Lot Essay
The twelfth century has been seen as a point of division for Islamic metalworking techniques and materials. The relative abundance of precious metal vessels in the period before contrasts with their scarcity thereafter, when silver inlay in base metal vessels became far more prevalent. This polarisation has been seen as a result of a silver 'famine' in Persia. While this has been widely accepted, Melikian-Chirvani argues from literary sources that there was a continued use of silver vessels well after 1200 (Melikian-Chirvani, A.S., 'Silver from Islamic Iran, the Evidence from Literature and Epigraphy', in Pots and Pans, Oxford Studies in Islamic Art III, Oxford, 1985, pp.89-106). The survival of these later vessels may have been rare since the metal was often re-used due to its general shortage.
On account of the engraved decoration, the present vessel clearly falls into the Ilkhanid 14th century. While the arrangement of the central field goes back to earlier prototypes, the birds set amongst foliage and the almond-shaped cartouches terminating in paired curled branches have their counterparts in the fourteenth century. Numerous lotus flowers belie the Chinese influence so prevalent in Ilkhanid art. The increased naturalism of the decoration has close parallels in manuscript illumination. Similar ornament is seen in marginal designs of an Ilkhanid Qur'an in the Khalili Collection (James, D.: The Master Scribes, Qur'ans of the 10th-17th centuries, London, 1992, no.26, p.114). This is almost absent in the imperial Qur'ans of Oljaytu. Comparable floral decoration can also be observed in various places in the 'Demotte' Shahnameh and the World History of Rashid al-Din, both of which date from a similar period.
The subject of birds set against foliage is ultimately of Chinese origin. The antecedents of both birds and the type of foliage can be found in paintings of the Yuan dynasty. Many of these paintings were later collected by Timurid princes and copied by artists, notably in the Siyah Qalam drawings. The advent of the Chinese birds into metalwork of the period is also clearly demonstrated in a belt buckle sold in these Rooms, 18 October 1994, lot 373.
The present dish has a number of comparable features with some of the silver objects found in central Asia in the nineteenth century and published by Smirnov (Argenterie Orientale, St. Petersburg, 1909). Particularly noteworthy here are a plate with an arrangement of a central roundel with surrounding cartouches similar to ours (no.242, pl.CVI), a cup with a cusped handle (no.223, pl.CVI) and a footed bowl (no.223, pl.CII). The rim of the latter is decorated with a punched design similar to ours. All the items have striking similarities to the present dish in the forms of the floral decoration.
A metallurgical analysis of this dish, performed by Dr Peter Northover of the Department of Materials, Oxford, sample no. R762 confirms the proposed dating
On account of the engraved decoration, the present vessel clearly falls into the Ilkhanid 14th century. While the arrangement of the central field goes back to earlier prototypes, the birds set amongst foliage and the almond-shaped cartouches terminating in paired curled branches have their counterparts in the fourteenth century. Numerous lotus flowers belie the Chinese influence so prevalent in Ilkhanid art. The increased naturalism of the decoration has close parallels in manuscript illumination. Similar ornament is seen in marginal designs of an Ilkhanid Qur'an in the Khalili Collection (James, D.: The Master Scribes, Qur'ans of the 10th-17th centuries, London, 1992, no.26, p.114). This is almost absent in the imperial Qur'ans of Oljaytu. Comparable floral decoration can also be observed in various places in the 'Demotte' Shahnameh and the World History of Rashid al-Din, both of which date from a similar period.
The subject of birds set against foliage is ultimately of Chinese origin. The antecedents of both birds and the type of foliage can be found in paintings of the Yuan dynasty. Many of these paintings were later collected by Timurid princes and copied by artists, notably in the Siyah Qalam drawings. The advent of the Chinese birds into metalwork of the period is also clearly demonstrated in a belt buckle sold in these Rooms, 18 October 1994, lot 373.
The present dish has a number of comparable features with some of the silver objects found in central Asia in the nineteenth century and published by Smirnov (Argenterie Orientale, St. Petersburg, 1909). Particularly noteworthy here are a plate with an arrangement of a central roundel with surrounding cartouches similar to ours (no.242, pl.CVI), a cup with a cusped handle (no.223, pl.CVI) and a footed bowl (no.223, pl.CII). The rim of the latter is decorated with a punched design similar to ours. All the items have striking similarities to the present dish in the forms of the floral decoration.
A metallurgical analysis of this dish, performed by Dr Peter Northover of the Department of Materials, Oxford, sample no. R762 confirms the proposed dating