A SILVER INLAID BRASS FOOD BOX

MAMLUK EGYPT OR THE YEMEN, 16TH CENTURY

細節

A SILVER INLAID BRASS FOOD BOX
MAMLUK EGYPT OR THE YEMEN, 16TH CENTURY
Of rectangular form with rounded ends and coffered lid, with loop handle and a central clasp, the body divided into three horizontal zones, the central band with bold thuluth inscription interrupted by four eight-petaled swirling rosettes, the upper and lower bands plain except for four swirling rosettes and eight knotted arabesques which issue from above and below the rosettes in the central band, generally good condition, some inlay missing
10.7/8in. (27.6cm.) wide

拍品專文

The thuluth inscription around the body reads: 'umila birasm al-janab al-'ali al-maulavi al-imami al-mathaghry al-mujahidi mawlana 'izz al-dunya wa-al.........al-din nasrallaha

(Made at the order of his High Excellency, our master, the imam, guardian of the frontier, fighting in the holy war, our master 'Izz al-dunya w'al-din b. (our master?) commander of the faithful Sharaf al-din - may Allah give him succour.)

The casket is related to a casket in the Islamic Museum, Cairo (Wiet, Gaston: Catalogue Général du Musée Arabe du Caire, Objets En Cuivre, Cairo, 1984, no. 3259, pl.LXIV) which has a similar style of inscription in the name of an imam 'Afif al-dunya w'al-din 'Ali b. the commander of the faithful Sharaf al-din b. Shams al-din. The inscription on the box further indicates that the box was made in Sana (sic) in the Yemen. It would seem that the imam 'Izz al-dunya w'al-din was a brother of 'Afif al-dunya w'al-din if we assume the omission of ibn immediately after the name of 'Izz al-dunya w'al din. It has not been possible to trace either of the imams. Both caskets probably date from the 16th century rather than the 15th century.