Lot 299
299
A SMALL REPOUSSÉ KHORASSAN BRONZE VESSEL of inverted drop form rising to a bird terminal, the upper half formed with a band of highly repoussé lions with protruding heads on a ring-pounced ground, the bird finial similarly pounced and engraved with feather motifs, the lower half with traces of radiating vertical bands above the three-footed base, late 12th century (base possibly not belonging, slight damage to protruding mouths)

Details
A SMALL REPOUSSÉ KHORASSAN BRONZE VESSEL of inverted drop form rising to a bird terminal, the upper half formed with a band of highly repoussé lions with protruding heads on a ring-pounced ground, the bird finial similarly pounced and engraved with feather motifs, the lower half with traces of radiating vertical bands above the three-footed base, late 12th century (base possibly not belonging, slight damage to protruding mouths)
3 1/8in. (8cm.) high

Lot Essay

There are a number of vessels of varying sizes that were produced in Khorassan using strongly repoussé lions as decoration. Best known are the candlesticks and ewers, but smaller vessels such as scent flasks also exist (Melikian-Chirvani, A.S.: Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World, pp.120-121, no.58). The present small item was probably originally a sword pommel. The base appears to have been added, but there are traces of decoration below the medial ridge, making its use as a cover impossible. A small gold pommel of gold is preserved in the archaeological museum, Teheran (Atil, E., Chase, W.T. and Jett, P.: Islamic Metalwork in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington 1985, pl.28, p.72). This lacks the finial and stops at the medial ridge, but has three lions around the upper side.

More from Islamic

View All
View All