.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Under the quillons is the signature of al-Haji Yusif
The large inscription on the blade reads: warada fi ba'd al-kalam ja'ala allah arzaq al-mujahidin an al-ibad min taht suyuf al-musaylillah (?) [al-muslimin] al-ladhi anqata'a inaq al-munafiqin wa al-kuffar sadaq al-kalam al-mukhtar (It has been recorded that God brought provisions of the holy warriors among believers through the swords of the Muslims (?) who cut the necks of the infidels and hypocrites. True are the selected words).
The other inscriptions comprise: a'udha bi'llah min al-shaytan al-rajim (I take refuge from the Evil one, the Rejected)
Qur'an, surat al-naml (XXVII), 31.
"O God! O The Ever-yearning, O! Ever-bestowing! O Abu Bakr! O 'Umar! O 'Uthman! O 'Ali! O Muhammad!"
"Praise be to God the King, the Most High"
The maker signs himself as al-haji Yusuf. While there are two recorded makers with the name Yusuf, both sign as Hajji Yusuf. One is of the Mamluk period. The other signed a sword of unrecorded date in the Royal Armoury, Turin (L.A.Mayer: Islamic Armourers and their Works, Geneva, 1962, pp.77-78).
While the form of the blade is well known, the variety of the gold inlaid decoration and its condition are remarkable. It has various features which are well attested in other Ottoman arts of the sixteenth century but which are not normally found on weapons. There is a long tradition of the long inscription found running along the spine which dates back to the early Mamluk period (Islamic Swords (in Arabic), exhibition catalogue, Kuwait, 1988, no.36, p.28, for example, a sword made for Sultan al-Malik al-Nasir Muhammad b. Qala'un, 1294-1344 AD). The same exhibition has swords of Mamluk and Ottoman sultans as late as some for Sultan Selim (1512-1520). The form of this sword is fully consistent with those dating from the 16th century.
It is the other decoration apart from the main inscription that makes this sword remarkable. Separate panels of script of different forms can be seen on a sword in the name of Sultan Bayezid dated AH912/1506-7 (Islamic Swords, no.103, p.121). That represents well the early Ottoman tradition, with many of the inscriptions in box kufic. With the advent of the Tabrizi armourers after the vistories of Sultan Selim, decoration of the best swords became strongly influenced by their style (David J. Roxburgh (ed.): Turks, London, 2005, nos.294 and 295, pp.324-5 and 451-2). This sword demonstrates very clearly the next development of Imperial taste when all the elements of the design are clearly influenced by the akkashhane. There is greater versatility in the execution than in the earlier periods, probably as a result of the Tabrizi workmen, with gold being applied thickly proud of the surface, gold being inset flush with the surface, and gold being inset as the background to leave the design reserved in steel. The designs are also greatly varied, with the quatre fleurs elements - both in raised sprays and in tulip spandrels, the inscription interlace roundel, and the confronted letter waw panel all being typical of the period. All three elements can be found in the tile-work of the entrance to the Eshref Rumi Zadeh mosque at Iznik which dates from 1619-1629 in the reign of Murad IV (Katarina Otto-Dorn: Türkische Keramik, Ankara, 1957, pl.70 and pp.120-122). Plays on entwined letter waw also occur in tilework in the Topkapi Palace, both in the Harem dated 1011/1602-3 AD and in the New Library dated 1017/1608-9 AD (Yanni Petsopopulos (ed.): Tulips, Arabesques and Turbans, London, 1982, nos.179-182, pp.184 and 188). This gives a probable date for the manufacture of this blade of the first quarter of the 17th century.
The large inscription on the blade reads: warada fi ba'd al-kalam ja'ala allah arzaq al-mujahidin an al-ibad min taht suyuf al-musaylillah (?) [al-muslimin] al-ladhi anqata'a inaq al-munafiqin wa al-kuffar sadaq al-kalam al-mukhtar (It has been recorded that God brought provisions of the holy warriors among believers through the swords of the Muslims (?) who cut the necks of the infidels and hypocrites. True are the selected words).
The other inscriptions comprise: a'udha bi'llah min al-shaytan al-rajim (I take refuge from the Evil one, the Rejected)
Qur'an, surat al-naml (XXVII), 31.
"O God! O The Ever-yearning, O! Ever-bestowing! O Abu Bakr! O 'Umar! O 'Uthman! O 'Ali! O Muhammad!"
"Praise be to God the King, the Most High"
The maker signs himself as al-haji Yusuf. While there are two recorded makers with the name Yusuf, both sign as Hajji Yusuf. One is of the Mamluk period. The other signed a sword of unrecorded date in the Royal Armoury, Turin (L.A.Mayer: Islamic Armourers and their Works, Geneva, 1962, pp.77-78).
While the form of the blade is well known, the variety of the gold inlaid decoration and its condition are remarkable. It has various features which are well attested in other Ottoman arts of the sixteenth century but which are not normally found on weapons. There is a long tradition of the long inscription found running along the spine which dates back to the early Mamluk period (Islamic Swords (in Arabic), exhibition catalogue, Kuwait, 1988, no.36, p.28, for example, a sword made for Sultan al-Malik al-Nasir Muhammad b. Qala'un, 1294-1344 AD). The same exhibition has swords of Mamluk and Ottoman sultans as late as some for Sultan Selim (1512-1520). The form of this sword is fully consistent with those dating from the 16th century.
It is the other decoration apart from the main inscription that makes this sword remarkable. Separate panels of script of different forms can be seen on a sword in the name of Sultan Bayezid dated AH912/1506-7 (Islamic Swords, no.103, p.121). That represents well the early Ottoman tradition, with many of the inscriptions in box kufic. With the advent of the Tabrizi armourers after the vistories of Sultan Selim, decoration of the best swords became strongly influenced by their style (David J. Roxburgh (ed.): Turks, London, 2005, nos.294 and 295, pp.324-5 and 451-2). This sword demonstrates very clearly the next development of Imperial taste when all the elements of the design are clearly influenced by the akkashhane. There is greater versatility in the execution than in the earlier periods, probably as a result of the Tabrizi workmen, with gold being applied thickly proud of the surface, gold being inset flush with the surface, and gold being inset as the background to leave the design reserved in steel. The designs are also greatly varied, with the quatre fleurs elements - both in raised sprays and in tulip spandrels, the inscription interlace roundel, and the confronted letter waw panel all being typical of the period. All three elements can be found in the tile-work of the entrance to the Eshref Rumi Zadeh mosque at Iznik which dates from 1619-1629 in the reign of Murad IV (Katarina Otto-Dorn: Türkische Keramik, Ankara, 1957, pl.70 and pp.120-122). Plays on entwined letter waw also occur in tilework in the Topkapi Palace, both in the Harem dated 1011/1602-3 AD and in the New Library dated 1017/1608-9 AD (Yanni Petsopopulos (ed.): Tulips, Arabesques and Turbans, London, 1982, nos.179-182, pp.184 and 188). This gives a probable date for the manufacture of this blade of the first quarter of the 17th century.