Lot Essay
Large straight-sided candlesticks were widely produced in the Islamic world. The shape, as far as can be ascertained from published examples, was first produced in North Mesopotamian workshops, although it was subsequently popular both in the Mamluk empire and in 14th century Iran. The earliest dated example is the well-known candlestick in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts signed by Abu Bakr b. Hajji Jaldak, the slave of Ahmad b. 'Umar al-Dhaki al-Mawsili and dated 622 (1225 AD) (Baer, E.: Metalwork in Medieval Islamic Art, pp.27-28, fig.22, p.32).
The present example has an almost identical decorative repertoire to the Boston candlestick. The main band is composed of a cusped and lobed arcade with figural scenes in the niches, scrolling arabesque interlace in the spandrels, bold kufic inscriptions above and below, and with minor plaited bands. The Boston candlestick has an extra minor band around the foot of running animals. Ours shows slightly greater simplicity in the handling of the motifs: the kufic is not quite so knotted together, although a close examination of the variance in an individual letter through the inscription shows considerable confidence on the part of the artist. The outlines of the arcade are broader, closer in proportion to the roundel outlines on a basin in a private Kuwaiti Collection dateable to 1257-59 AD ('Art from the World of Islam', in Louisiana Revy, Vol.27, no.3, Copenhagen March 1987, no.123, p.91, pl.p.26).
The present candlestick differs from the Boston example also in that each alternate arcade is filled with a complex diaper pattern enclosing small roundels within stellar arrangements. A very similar version of this design, but centred on rosettes rather than roundels, is found covering the surface of a Siirt candlestick in the Nuhad es-Said Collection dateable to the early 14th century but with an inscription in the name of an Ayyubid (Allan, J.W.: Islamic Metalwork, the Nuhad es-Said Collection, London 1982, no. 9, pp.66-69).
By comparison with the Boston candlestick, an inscribed example in the same Kuwaiti private collection (Louisiana Revy, op.cit., no.122, pl.p.62) and one in the Cairo Museum, all of which also are signed by craftsmen using the nisbah 'al-Mawsili', it is fairly certain that this candlestick was made by a craftsman from Mosul, although very possibly working in another centre, such as Damascus.
The present example has an almost identical decorative repertoire to the Boston candlestick. The main band is composed of a cusped and lobed arcade with figural scenes in the niches, scrolling arabesque interlace in the spandrels, bold kufic inscriptions above and below, and with minor plaited bands. The Boston candlestick has an extra minor band around the foot of running animals. Ours shows slightly greater simplicity in the handling of the motifs: the kufic is not quite so knotted together, although a close examination of the variance in an individual letter through the inscription shows considerable confidence on the part of the artist. The outlines of the arcade are broader, closer in proportion to the roundel outlines on a basin in a private Kuwaiti Collection dateable to 1257-59 AD ('Art from the World of Islam', in Louisiana Revy, Vol.27, no.3, Copenhagen March 1987, no.123, p.91, pl.p.26).
The present candlestick differs from the Boston example also in that each alternate arcade is filled with a complex diaper pattern enclosing small roundels within stellar arrangements. A very similar version of this design, but centred on rosettes rather than roundels, is found covering the surface of a Siirt candlestick in the Nuhad es-Said Collection dateable to the early 14th century but with an inscription in the name of an Ayyubid (Allan, J.W.: Islamic Metalwork, the Nuhad es-Said Collection, London 1982, no. 9, pp.66-69).
By comparison with the Boston candlestick, an inscribed example in the same Kuwaiti private collection (Louisiana Revy, op.cit., no.122, pl.p.62) and one in the Cairo Museum, all of which also are signed by craftsmen using the nisbah 'al-Mawsili', it is fairly certain that this candlestick was made by a craftsman from Mosul, although very possibly working in another centre, such as Damascus.