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Lot Essay
The very apposite inscription inside the lid reads:
iftah dawat sa'da bi-taraqi wa 'uluw martaba wa 'izz baqi aqlamaha idha tasatamad madadaha samm al-'aduqi fa-fatih al-azraqi (open the pen-case of good fortune through promotion and high rank and lasting glory; its pens, when they draw ink, are the poison for injustice and the conqueror of enemies).
On the front of the cover:
mimma 'umila bi-rasm mawlana al-maqarr al-karim al-'ali al-mawlawi, al-sayyidi al-muhtarami al-makhdumi al-'alimi a , al-'amili al-amiri al-kabiri al-hami najm , al-din muhammad ibn 'abdullah al-.... al-mu'ayyadi khallada ... nizamahu (One of the things made for our lord, the honourable authority, the lofty, the lordly, the master, the revered, the well-served, the learned, the diligent, the great amir, the Hami (i.e. al-Hamawi, from Hama) Najm al-Din Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah , ... [of the office of al-Malik] al-Mu'ayyad, May .... of his order (?) be eternal).
The sides and back of the cover read:
sa'ad bi-ka 'ala al-ayyam arba'a (?) , 'izz wa ni'am (sic.) wa iqbal wa ta'id fa-la taktub bi-khattaka 'an sariraka fi'l-... an tarahu (?) , al-yumn wa al-'izz wa birr (?) ... bi'l-dawam , al-dawlat al-'amira 'ala al-anam , wa nifadh al-awamir lisahibihi 'izz , yadum wa iqbal al-'ali , wa tul al-'umr madda al-ayyam ..., (May [the following] four (?) assist you during your lifetime: Glory and (God's) grace and prosperity and (God's) support. Do not write in your hand on the strength of your elevated seat in ... that you see it (?) [as] Good fortune and glory and piety (?) ... with the perpetuity of the prosperous government over people, and implementation of commands. [May there be] lasting glory and eminent good-fortune, and long life and extended days of ... to its owner.
The rectangular penbox with hinged cover and flat ends is a type of which relatively few examples have survived. A selection of the published examples is as follows. A fuller list of penboxes is given by Wiet, some of which have not otherwise been published; no note is also given of whether the ends are rounded or square (Wiet, Gaston: Catalogue générale du musée arabe du Caire, Objets en Cuivre, Cairo, 1984 reprint, pp.81-2).
Mosul, 1230-50, 36.8cm., British Museum, OA1884.7-4.85 (Piotrovsky, Mikhail (gen.ed.): Earthly Beauty, Heavenly Art, exhibition catalogue, Amsterdam, 1999, no.30, p.93.
Syria, mid-13th century, 25.6cm., Musée du Louvre, K 3438, (L'Islam dans les collections nationales, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1977, no.448, p.203).
Egypt, 1302, Victoria and Albert Museum, 370-1897, van Berchem: "Notes sur l'archéologue arabe", Journal Asiatique, 10e série, vol.iii, 1904, pp.46-48.
Egypt or Syria, 1304-5, 32.4cm., Musée du Louvre, 3621, (Atil, Esin: Renaissance of Islam, Art of the Mamluks, Washington D.C., 1981, no.23, pp.82-3).
Probably Syria, 1320, 31.0cm., Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, 15132 (Atil, Esin: Renaissance of Islam, Arts of the Mamluks, Washington D.C., 1981, no.24, pp.84-5).
Syria or Egypt, mid-13th century, 30.7cm., British Museum, OA 1881.8-2.20 (Ward, Rachel: Islamic Metalwork, London, 1993, no.85, pp.106-7.
Egypt, 1361-3, 31.5cm., Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, 4461, Wiet, Gaston: Catalogue générale du musée arabe du Caire, Objets en Cuivre, Cairo, 1984 reprint, pp.82, 123-5 and pls.III and IV.
Probably Egypt, late 15th century, 35cm., Metropolitan Museum of Art, 75.350.1 a,b,c (The Arts of Islam, Masterpieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Berlin, 1981, no.58, pp.150-1).
It appears that this was a shape which was first used in Mosul and then became one of the forms used in Egypt and Syria. It was less popular or possibly unknown in Iran.
Alternating roundels are used as the main decoration of the body on a number of penboxes from 14th century Egypt and Syria. The previous publication of the present box compares it particularly closely to two other examples, that dating from 1302 in the Victoria and Albert Museum and that in the Louvre dated 1304-5 noted above. Both of these penboxes do have the same primary arrangement of motifs on the exterior, but in both cases the background is finely worked, in London with a curvilinear diaper pattern and in Paris with scrolling leafy vine. It is the absence of background decoration around the alternating panels of the body of this penbox that gives it its real individuality and which is not parallelled in any other penboxes of the period. None also has the very clearly worked eight-pointed diaper design within the roundels seen here. That seems to be a motif which is very difficult to find on Mamluk metalwork, but it does appear on earlier brass vessels from Mosul such as the Blacas ewer (Ward, op.cit., pl.59; see also pl.61a for another example from the same origin).
It must also be noted at this point that the composition of the Victoria and Albert Museum example has been very considerably altered by the re-engraving and inlay of Rasulid rosettes over the original design which was, wherever it appeared, an eagle blazon. The main inscription on the cover and that on its interior have both been re-worked. The date panel is less obviously so. Thus it is possible it did not get to the Yemen until some time after 1302, although it must have been before the death of the new patron, Sultan al-Mu'ayyad Da'ud (1296-1322). A closer examination of the Victoria and Albert penbox will certainly reveal more information.
Apart from the absence of background decoration, which due to the lack of companion pieces means we cannot draw many conclusions, there are other features about this penbox which make a dating slightly later in the century than has previously been suggested. The decoration is entirely lacking in any figural representation. While not at all conclusive, it is noticeable that the representation of the human figure dwindles rapidly in the second quarter of the century. And while the Victoria and Albert penbox of 1302 has no figures, it is the exception for this period and, as noted above, was originally covered with eagle blazons.
The interior of the cover of the present penbox is indeed comparable in layout to the Victoria and Albert Museum example. It is however even closer in layout to the one in the British Museum noted in the list above. The Victoria and Albert box has its main band of inscription running from side to side behind three roundels, and with smaller roundels above and below. The British Museum example has the whole composition as here within a border, with the main band linking the main panels but not extending beyond them, and has paired triangular panels above and below between each large medallion. The British Museum box has been dated to the middle of the century, indicating a probable date for the present box a little later than the very beginning of the century.
This being the case, the dating concurs more with the reign of the Ayyubid Sultan, Imad al-Din Abu'l Fida Isma'il, Malik al-Mu'ayyad of Hama. He was given the title of sultan in 1320, and was renowned for his literary works. This attribution is further strengthened by the re-reading of the somewhat poorly written name of the patron given at the front of the box, with the nisbah "al-hami". The inscriptions on the two sides and on the reverse of the cover are more typical of Ayyubid inscriptions than Mamluk ones in content, and, even within the last area of remaining Ayyubid control might have seemed slightly archaic. The eight-pointed interlace roundel also appears not to have been at the forefront of 1320s fashion, but harks back to an earlier group of vessels, made by artisans some of whom may have been among those who fled to Syria before the Mongol influx some ninety years earlier.
By coincidence the penbox made for the suzerain of the patron of the present box has also survived in the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, as noted above. The main decoration around the body, as with the Victoria and Albert penbox, the Louvre penbox and the present example, is alternating larger and smaller roundels, showing the continuing popularity of this design.
iftah dawat sa'da bi-taraqi wa 'uluw martaba wa 'izz baqi aqlamaha idha tasatamad madadaha samm al-'aduqi fa-fatih al-azraqi (open the pen-case of good fortune through promotion and high rank and lasting glory; its pens, when they draw ink, are the poison for injustice and the conqueror of enemies).
On the front of the cover:
mimma 'umila bi-rasm mawlana al-maqarr al-karim al-'ali al-mawlawi, al-sayyidi al-muhtarami al-makhdumi al-'alimi a , al-'amili al-amiri al-kabiri al-hami najm , al-din muhammad ibn 'abdullah al-.... al-mu'ayyadi khallada ... nizamahu (One of the things made for our lord, the honourable authority, the lofty, the lordly, the master, the revered, the well-served, the learned, the diligent, the great amir, the Hami (i.e. al-Hamawi, from Hama) Najm al-Din Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah , ... [of the office of al-Malik] al-Mu'ayyad, May .... of his order (?) be eternal).
The sides and back of the cover read:
sa'ad bi-ka 'ala al-ayyam arba'a (?) , 'izz wa ni'am (sic.) wa iqbal wa ta'id fa-la taktub bi-khattaka 'an sariraka fi'l-... an tarahu (?) , al-yumn wa al-'izz wa birr (?) ... bi'l-dawam , al-dawlat al-'amira 'ala al-anam , wa nifadh al-awamir lisahibihi 'izz , yadum wa iqbal al-'ali , wa tul al-'umr madda al-ayyam ..., (May [the following] four (?) assist you during your lifetime: Glory and (God's) grace and prosperity and (God's) support. Do not write in your hand on the strength of your elevated seat in ... that you see it (?) [as] Good fortune and glory and piety (?) ... with the perpetuity of the prosperous government over people, and implementation of commands. [May there be] lasting glory and eminent good-fortune, and long life and extended days of ... to its owner.
The rectangular penbox with hinged cover and flat ends is a type of which relatively few examples have survived. A selection of the published examples is as follows. A fuller list of penboxes is given by Wiet, some of which have not otherwise been published; no note is also given of whether the ends are rounded or square (Wiet, Gaston: Catalogue générale du musée arabe du Caire, Objets en Cuivre, Cairo, 1984 reprint, pp.81-2).
Mosul, 1230-50, 36.8cm., British Museum, OA1884.7-4.85 (Piotrovsky, Mikhail (gen.ed.): Earthly Beauty, Heavenly Art, exhibition catalogue, Amsterdam, 1999, no.30, p.93.
Syria, mid-13th century, 25.6cm., Musée du Louvre, K 3438, (L'Islam dans les collections nationales, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1977, no.448, p.203).
Egypt, 1302, Victoria and Albert Museum, 370-1897, van Berchem: "Notes sur l'archéologue arabe", Journal Asiatique, 10e série, vol.iii, 1904, pp.46-48.
Egypt or Syria, 1304-5, 32.4cm., Musée du Louvre, 3621, (Atil, Esin: Renaissance of Islam, Art of the Mamluks, Washington D.C., 1981, no.23, pp.82-3).
Probably Syria, 1320, 31.0cm., Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, 15132 (Atil, Esin: Renaissance of Islam, Arts of the Mamluks, Washington D.C., 1981, no.24, pp.84-5).
Syria or Egypt, mid-13th century, 30.7cm., British Museum, OA 1881.8-2.20 (Ward, Rachel: Islamic Metalwork, London, 1993, no.85, pp.106-7.
Egypt, 1361-3, 31.5cm., Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, 4461, Wiet, Gaston: Catalogue générale du musée arabe du Caire, Objets en Cuivre, Cairo, 1984 reprint, pp.82, 123-5 and pls.III and IV.
Probably Egypt, late 15th century, 35cm., Metropolitan Museum of Art, 75.350.1 a,b,c (The Arts of Islam, Masterpieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Berlin, 1981, no.58, pp.150-1).
It appears that this was a shape which was first used in Mosul and then became one of the forms used in Egypt and Syria. It was less popular or possibly unknown in Iran.
Alternating roundels are used as the main decoration of the body on a number of penboxes from 14th century Egypt and Syria. The previous publication of the present box compares it particularly closely to two other examples, that dating from 1302 in the Victoria and Albert Museum and that in the Louvre dated 1304-5 noted above. Both of these penboxes do have the same primary arrangement of motifs on the exterior, but in both cases the background is finely worked, in London with a curvilinear diaper pattern and in Paris with scrolling leafy vine. It is the absence of background decoration around the alternating panels of the body of this penbox that gives it its real individuality and which is not parallelled in any other penboxes of the period. None also has the very clearly worked eight-pointed diaper design within the roundels seen here. That seems to be a motif which is very difficult to find on Mamluk metalwork, but it does appear on earlier brass vessels from Mosul such as the Blacas ewer (Ward, op.cit., pl.59; see also pl.61a for another example from the same origin).
It must also be noted at this point that the composition of the Victoria and Albert Museum example has been very considerably altered by the re-engraving and inlay of Rasulid rosettes over the original design which was, wherever it appeared, an eagle blazon. The main inscription on the cover and that on its interior have both been re-worked. The date panel is less obviously so. Thus it is possible it did not get to the Yemen until some time after 1302, although it must have been before the death of the new patron, Sultan al-Mu'ayyad Da'ud (1296-1322). A closer examination of the Victoria and Albert penbox will certainly reveal more information.
Apart from the absence of background decoration, which due to the lack of companion pieces means we cannot draw many conclusions, there are other features about this penbox which make a dating slightly later in the century than has previously been suggested. The decoration is entirely lacking in any figural representation. While not at all conclusive, it is noticeable that the representation of the human figure dwindles rapidly in the second quarter of the century. And while the Victoria and Albert penbox of 1302 has no figures, it is the exception for this period and, as noted above, was originally covered with eagle blazons.
The interior of the cover of the present penbox is indeed comparable in layout to the Victoria and Albert Museum example. It is however even closer in layout to the one in the British Museum noted in the list above. The Victoria and Albert box has its main band of inscription running from side to side behind three roundels, and with smaller roundels above and below. The British Museum example has the whole composition as here within a border, with the main band linking the main panels but not extending beyond them, and has paired triangular panels above and below between each large medallion. The British Museum box has been dated to the middle of the century, indicating a probable date for the present box a little later than the very beginning of the century.
This being the case, the dating concurs more with the reign of the Ayyubid Sultan, Imad al-Din Abu'l Fida Isma'il, Malik al-Mu'ayyad of Hama. He was given the title of sultan in 1320, and was renowned for his literary works. This attribution is further strengthened by the re-reading of the somewhat poorly written name of the patron given at the front of the box, with the nisbah "al-hami". The inscriptions on the two sides and on the reverse of the cover are more typical of Ayyubid inscriptions than Mamluk ones in content, and, even within the last area of remaining Ayyubid control might have seemed slightly archaic. The eight-pointed interlace roundel also appears not to have been at the forefront of 1320s fashion, but harks back to an earlier group of vessels, made by artisans some of whom may have been among those who fled to Syria before the Mongol influx some ninety years earlier.
By coincidence the penbox made for the suzerain of the patron of the present box has also survived in the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, as noted above. The main decoration around the body, as with the Victoria and Albert penbox, the Louvre penbox and the present example, is alternating larger and smaller roundels, showing the continuing popularity of this design.