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Lot Essay
The inscription is the "Shiite shahada", adding the phrase "and 'Ali is the friend of God" to the normal formula.
This panel is one of a small group of exquisitely crafted openwork panels with inscriptions set on spiralling grounds, each within a plain border. Used on doors and possibly screens they were originally held in place by perfectly crafted steel spandrels each of which held the pierced panel to a gilt copper ground without the use of nails, rivets or soldering. One with the original ground was offered in these Rooms 23 April 1996, lot 224, while another, of horizontal cartouche format, is in the David Collection (Folsach, Kjeld v.: Art from the World of Islam, Copenhagen, 2001, no.526, p.328).
The example offered in these Rooms in 1996 also carried the name of the calligrapher, Muhammad Reza. It is probable that this is the Muhammad Reza al-Imami who contributed the inscriptions on important monuments in Isfahan and Mashhad in the second half of the seventeenth century (Hillenbrand, Robert: "Safavid Architecture", The Cambridge History of Iran, VI, Cambridge, 1996, pp.787, 803 and 837). That the same calligrapher worked on the same scale as here in other commissions is shown by two wooden panels (Fehérvári, G. and Safadi, Y.: 1400 Years of Islamic Art, Khalili Gallery, London, 1981, nos.157 a-f, p.230). A pair of steel grille doors recently on the London market, dated AH 1110 (1698-9 AD) also bore the name of the same calligrapher, combined with the signature of the craftsman, Kamal al-Din Pornak (the blacksmith.
This panel can be dated very precisely. One of identical size and layout is in the British Museum (Safadi, Yasin: Islamic Calligraphy, London, 1978, pl.10, p.37; The Arts of Islam, exhibition catalogue, London, 1976, no.235, p.200). The inscription here is identical to that on the present example save that the final Shiite phrase seen here is replaced by the quote from the Qur'an associated with the shahada, "it is from Solomon/Sulayman" (Qur'an sura xxvii, v.30). The British Museum panel also bears the date of 1105 (1693-4 AD) which is during the reign of the Safavid Shah Sulayman (1666-1694).
The present piece appears to the be the companion to that in the British Museum. The outline, layout and size of the panels are identical. The main text of one is the shahada while the other is the bismillah. Both have a little bit added to the inscription over what is normally encoutered in each case. In both the name Allah occupies the top of the panel; the lower part of the panel contains the two extra names added to the normal inscriptions, those of Sulayman and 'Ali.
This panel is one of a small group of exquisitely crafted openwork panels with inscriptions set on spiralling grounds, each within a plain border. Used on doors and possibly screens they were originally held in place by perfectly crafted steel spandrels each of which held the pierced panel to a gilt copper ground without the use of nails, rivets or soldering. One with the original ground was offered in these Rooms 23 April 1996, lot 224, while another, of horizontal cartouche format, is in the David Collection (Folsach, Kjeld v.: Art from the World of Islam, Copenhagen, 2001, no.526, p.328).
The example offered in these Rooms in 1996 also carried the name of the calligrapher, Muhammad Reza. It is probable that this is the Muhammad Reza al-Imami who contributed the inscriptions on important monuments in Isfahan and Mashhad in the second half of the seventeenth century (Hillenbrand, Robert: "Safavid Architecture", The Cambridge History of Iran, VI, Cambridge, 1996, pp.787, 803 and 837). That the same calligrapher worked on the same scale as here in other commissions is shown by two wooden panels (Fehérvári, G. and Safadi, Y.: 1400 Years of Islamic Art, Khalili Gallery, London, 1981, nos.157 a-f, p.230). A pair of steel grille doors recently on the London market, dated AH 1110 (1698-9 AD) also bore the name of the same calligrapher, combined with the signature of the craftsman, Kamal al-Din Pornak (the blacksmith.
This panel can be dated very precisely. One of identical size and layout is in the British Museum (Safadi, Yasin: Islamic Calligraphy, London, 1978, pl.10, p.37; The Arts of Islam, exhibition catalogue, London, 1976, no.235, p.200). The inscription here is identical to that on the present example save that the final Shiite phrase seen here is replaced by the quote from the Qur'an associated with the shahada, "it is from Solomon/Sulayman" (Qur'an sura xxvii, v.30). The British Museum panel also bears the date of 1105 (1693-4 AD) which is during the reign of the Safavid Shah Sulayman (1666-1694).
The present piece appears to the be the companion to that in the British Museum. The outline, layout and size of the panels are identical. The main text of one is the shahada while the other is the bismillah. Both have a little bit added to the inscription over what is normally encoutered in each case. In both the name Allah occupies the top of the panel; the lower part of the panel contains the two extra names added to the normal inscriptions, those of Sulayman and 'Ali.