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Lot Essay
The inscriptions are as follows:
Round the rim and the neck: al-'izz al-da'im wa al-i ,[qba] l wa salama wa al-kara[ma] (Perpetual Glory and Prosperity and Well-being and Generosity).
Round the shoulder, in Kufic: al-'izz al-da'im , al-iqbal , al-sa'a[da a] l-kara[ma] al-sala[ma], (Perpetual Glory, Prosperity, Happiness, Generosity, Well-being).
Round the edge of the shoulder: al-'izz al-da'im wa al-iqbal wa al-dawala , wa al-sa'ada wa al-salama wa al-karama , wa al-raha wa al-rahma wa al-'afiya , wa al-nasr 'alal (sic.) a'da abadan li-sahibihi (Perpetual Glory and Prosperity and Good-fortune and Happiness and Well-being and Generosity and Ease and Mercy (of God) and Health and Victory over enemies for ever to its owner).
Round the base, in Kufic, incomplete benedictory terms, not all deciphered, such as al-'izz al-da'[im] al-i[q]bal al-kara[ma] al-sa'a[da] al-kara[ma] al-sala[ma] (Perpetual Glory, Prosperity, Generosity, Happiness, Well-being, Generosity).
The present candlestick comes from a group of which almost all examples are the same size and proportion, and made of the same metal, although the style of decoration and indeed the techniques enable the group to be subdivided. The publication of the present candlestick brings to seven the total number whose main band of decoration is formed of an overall lattice of either three or four tiers of rosettes. One is in the British Museum (Rachel Ward, Islamic Metalwork, London, 1993, fig.72), one unpublished example is in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, one is in the Turk ve Islam Museum, Istanbul (D.S. Rice, "Seasons and Labours of the Months", Ars Orientalis, I, 1954, pl.7, fig.d), another is in the Konya Museum (Rice, op. cit., p.15), one was in Rice's own collection (op.cit, p.,15, not illustrated), one was sold at Sotheby's, London, 12 October 1982, lot 35 and the seventh was sold at Bonhams, London, 17 October 2002, lot 296. A very closely related example should also be noted in that its body has very similar but smaller quatrefoil rosettes set within a geometric strapwork interlace rather than the scrolling circular links seen here (James Allan, Islamic Metalwork, The Nuhad Es-Said Collection, London, 1982, no.9, pp.66-9). It is of very high quality indeed and names the patron for whom it was made, a member of the Ayyubid family who Allan suggests was living in Hisn Kaifa between 1318 and 1326.
The attribution of these candlesticks, together with others of the same form but different surface design, has been discussed in some detail. Rice suggested North West Iran, but this was challenged in 1976 by Melikian-Chirvani who reattributed them to Anatolia. This was supported in 1978 by P. Soucek (Priscilla Soucek, Islamic Art from the University of Michigan Collections, Ann Arbour, 1978, no.70). The same year James Allan also supported this attribution, narrowing it further to justify an attribution to Siirt ("From Tabriz to Siirt; Relocation of a 13th century Metalworking School", Iran 16, 1978, pp.182-3). In 1982 both Allan's publication of the Nuhad es Said Collection example noted above, and Melikian-Chirvani's publication of the five examples in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Assadullah Souren Melikian-Chirvani, Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World, 8th-18th centuries, London, 1982, pp.356-368), confirmed Anatolia, the latter publication leaving open the precise centre. Since this date Anatolia has not been challenged, although suggestions have been made that Konya rather than Siirt was the centre where they were made (Ward, op.cit, p.92).
Round the rim and the neck: al-'izz al-da'im wa al-i ,[qba] l wa salama wa al-kara[ma] (Perpetual Glory and Prosperity and Well-being and Generosity).
Round the shoulder, in Kufic: al-'izz al-da'im , al-iqbal , al-sa'a[da a] l-kara[ma] al-sala[ma], (Perpetual Glory, Prosperity, Happiness, Generosity, Well-being).
Round the edge of the shoulder: al-'izz al-da'im wa al-iqbal wa al-dawala , wa al-sa'ada wa al-salama wa al-karama , wa al-raha wa al-rahma wa al-'afiya , wa al-nasr 'alal (sic.) a'da abadan li-sahibihi (Perpetual Glory and Prosperity and Good-fortune and Happiness and Well-being and Generosity and Ease and Mercy (of God) and Health and Victory over enemies for ever to its owner).
Round the base, in Kufic, incomplete benedictory terms, not all deciphered, such as al-'izz al-da'[im] al-i[q]bal al-kara[ma] al-sa'a[da] al-kara[ma] al-sala[ma] (Perpetual Glory, Prosperity, Generosity, Happiness, Well-being, Generosity).
The present candlestick comes from a group of which almost all examples are the same size and proportion, and made of the same metal, although the style of decoration and indeed the techniques enable the group to be subdivided. The publication of the present candlestick brings to seven the total number whose main band of decoration is formed of an overall lattice of either three or four tiers of rosettes. One is in the British Museum (Rachel Ward, Islamic Metalwork, London, 1993, fig.72), one unpublished example is in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, one is in the Turk ve Islam Museum, Istanbul (D.S. Rice, "Seasons and Labours of the Months", Ars Orientalis, I, 1954, pl.7, fig.d), another is in the Konya Museum (Rice, op. cit., p.15), one was in Rice's own collection (op.cit, p.,15, not illustrated), one was sold at Sotheby's, London, 12 October 1982, lot 35 and the seventh was sold at Bonhams, London, 17 October 2002, lot 296. A very closely related example should also be noted in that its body has very similar but smaller quatrefoil rosettes set within a geometric strapwork interlace rather than the scrolling circular links seen here (James Allan, Islamic Metalwork, The Nuhad Es-Said Collection, London, 1982, no.9, pp.66-9). It is of very high quality indeed and names the patron for whom it was made, a member of the Ayyubid family who Allan suggests was living in Hisn Kaifa between 1318 and 1326.
The attribution of these candlesticks, together with others of the same form but different surface design, has been discussed in some detail. Rice suggested North West Iran, but this was challenged in 1976 by Melikian-Chirvani who reattributed them to Anatolia. This was supported in 1978 by P. Soucek (Priscilla Soucek, Islamic Art from the University of Michigan Collections, Ann Arbour, 1978, no.70). The same year James Allan also supported this attribution, narrowing it further to justify an attribution to Siirt ("From Tabriz to Siirt; Relocation of a 13th century Metalworking School", Iran 16, 1978, pp.182-3). In 1982 both Allan's publication of the Nuhad es Said Collection example noted above, and Melikian-Chirvani's publication of the five examples in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Assadullah Souren Melikian-Chirvani, Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World, 8th-18th centuries, London, 1982, pp.356-368), confirmed Anatolia, the latter publication leaving open the precise centre. Since this date Anatolia has not been challenged, although suggestions have been made that Konya rather than Siirt was the centre where they were made (Ward, op.cit, p.92).