Lot Essay
The inscriptions around the two panels read:
al-'izz al-da'im al-iqbal al-za'id al-amr al-nafidh al-jadd al-sa'id al-dahr al-musa'id al-ni'ma al-shamila al-baraka al-kamila al-jadd al-sa'id al-dahr al-musa'id al-ni'ma
(perpetual glory, increasing prosperity, penetrating authority, ascending good fortune, helping destiny, complete grace, perfect blessing, ascending good fortune, helping destiny, grace).
Four other mediaeval Islamic belts have been published which all have in common a band of spacers along the length of the belt. These are a gold belt in Jerusalem (Hasson, Rachel: Early Islamic Jewellery, Jerusalem, 1987, no.127, p.95), a silver example in the British Museum (agman, Filiz et al.: The Anatolian Civilisations, exhibition catalogue, Istanbul, 1983, vol. III, no.D.127, p.70), a silver example which was offered at Sotheby's as lot 118 on 25 April 1990, and a silver belt withonly one incomplete end-buckle in the Benaki Museum, Athens (The Arts of Islam, exhibition catalogue, London, 1976, no.653). The first three all share the same form of buckle with the present lot, including the flat end whose precise method of fastening remains a puzzle. The others however also give clues as to the purpose of the unusual elements in the present belt. Both the Athens and British Museum examples have loops which are suspended from two of the spacers, indicating that the same was probably the case here, although the spacers no longer remain. The British Museum and Sotheby examples both have the extra panel which here is in the form of an elongated hexagon and which somehow must have retained the loose belt end. Both the Athens and Jerusalem belts have discs which presumably alternated with the spacers and which are absent here.
Our belt, with its narrow band of engraved inscription running around the scrolling interlaced vine is closest to the Jerusalem belt. That piece is inscribed in the name of Abu'l Fida' Isma'il, an emir who was born in Damascus in 1273 AD. This is the only precise documentary evidence available for any of the belts, but the similarity of the form of the buckles enables us to attribute a similar origin to the present belt. A slightly earlier date for the present piece is indicated by the inscriptions being benedictory rather than honorific, and by the similarity of the interlace to other items of the mid-13th century such as a roundel on the central band of a silver inlaid tray stand ('Art from the World of Islam', Louisiana Revy, vol.27, no.3, March 1987, no.115, p.90, ill.p.63). Interestingly other roundels on this tray stand are very similar indeed to the decoration on the Sotheby belt catalogued in 1990 as Seljuk.
Another belt buckle of similar form to this but made of gold is offered as lot 478 in this sale.
al-'izz al-da'im al-iqbal al-za'id al-amr al-nafidh al-jadd al-sa'id al-dahr al-musa'id al-ni'ma al-shamila al-baraka al-kamila al-jadd al-sa'id al-dahr al-musa'id al-ni'ma
(perpetual glory, increasing prosperity, penetrating authority, ascending good fortune, helping destiny, complete grace, perfect blessing, ascending good fortune, helping destiny, grace).
Four other mediaeval Islamic belts have been published which all have in common a band of spacers along the length of the belt. These are a gold belt in Jerusalem (Hasson, Rachel: Early Islamic Jewellery, Jerusalem, 1987, no.127, p.95), a silver example in the British Museum (agman, Filiz et al.: The Anatolian Civilisations, exhibition catalogue, Istanbul, 1983, vol. III, no.D.127, p.70), a silver example which was offered at Sotheby's as lot 118 on 25 April 1990, and a silver belt withonly one incomplete end-buckle in the Benaki Museum, Athens (The Arts of Islam, exhibition catalogue, London, 1976, no.653). The first three all share the same form of buckle with the present lot, including the flat end whose precise method of fastening remains a puzzle. The others however also give clues as to the purpose of the unusual elements in the present belt. Both the Athens and British Museum examples have loops which are suspended from two of the spacers, indicating that the same was probably the case here, although the spacers no longer remain. The British Museum and Sotheby examples both have the extra panel which here is in the form of an elongated hexagon and which somehow must have retained the loose belt end. Both the Athens and Jerusalem belts have discs which presumably alternated with the spacers and which are absent here.
Our belt, with its narrow band of engraved inscription running around the scrolling interlaced vine is closest to the Jerusalem belt. That piece is inscribed in the name of Abu'l Fida' Isma'il, an emir who was born in Damascus in 1273 AD. This is the only precise documentary evidence available for any of the belts, but the similarity of the form of the buckles enables us to attribute a similar origin to the present belt. A slightly earlier date for the present piece is indicated by the inscriptions being benedictory rather than honorific, and by the similarity of the interlace to other items of the mid-13th century such as a roundel on the central band of a silver inlaid tray stand ('Art from the World of Islam', Louisiana Revy, vol.27, no.3, March 1987, no.115, p.90, ill.p.63). Interestingly other roundels on this tray stand are very similar indeed to the decoration on the Sotheby belt catalogued in 1990 as Seljuk.
Another belt buckle of similar form to this but made of gold is offered as lot 478 in this sale.