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拍品专文
This wonderfully imposing deer was originally intended as an aquamanile, a water vessel, with a separately cast handle looping up from the hindquarters to the back of the head which would have been topped by a spout to fill it up. Water would come in a thin stream from the mouth when poured. Originally the metal would have been a rich yellow, the engraved details possibly picked out in black composition, and the eyes gleaming copper. The horns would very probably have continued, carved out of ivory or real horn. Today the copper inlaid eyes are green, while the body has a very thick rich grey-green patination. Even the line of extra surface accretion on one side carefully follows the contours, accentuating the elegant lines of its body.
It is well established the there was no ban on the depiction of animals and even the human form in the early years of Islam. Palaces that survive show human figures in frescoes or carvings on the walls. Qusayr 'Amra dating from 711-715 AD, has a ceiling lattice filled with hunting scenes, and a half naked lady by a swimming pool; Qasr el-Kheir al-Gharbi built in 724-743 has hunting scenes and large scale figures in niches; Khirbat al Mafjar in Jordan, built in 743-744, has free-standing stucco figures and mosaics with deer, and the most famous of all, Mshatta, now in the Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin, has a faade whose foliage is teeming with animals of various types (Katarina Otto-Dorn, Kunst des Islam, Baden-Baden, 1964, pp.40-57). It is no surprise at all with this background that among the early Islamic oeuvre are a number of spectacular and generally well-known bronze animals cast in the round, the best of which are considered among the absolute masterpieces of Islamic Art.
The earliest examples tend to be the most realistic, as one would expect from art that was at that stage influenced by Sasanian and Byzantine art. Two magnificent eagles in the Berlin Museum of Islamic Art (Stephan Waetzoldt (intro by) Kunst der Welt in den Berliner Museen, Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin, Stuttgart, 1980, no.8, pp.28-9) and in the Hermitage signed by Master Sulayman and dated AH 180/796-7 AD (Mikhail Piotrovski, On Islamic Art, St. Petersburg, 2000, pp.71-73; M.B.Piotrovsky and J.M.Rogers, Heaven on Earth, Art from Islamic Lands, Munich, Berlin, London and New York, 2004, no.30, pp.80-81), together with a third in the Monastery of St Catherine, Sinai, while not completely realistic, have a monumentality and magnificence about them which is completely achieved from the sculptural form rather than the decoration. A small number of other single figure sculptures date from this very early period in the Eastern Mediterranean area, including a goose in the Hermitage Museum (Ausstellung von Meisterwerken Muhammedanischer Kunst in München 1910, exhibition catalogue, Alexandria Press reprint, London, 1985, pl.135).
One other animal sculpted in the round dating from the very early Islamic period is a deer in the Hermitage (Ausstellung von Meisterwerken Muhammedanischer Kunst in München 1910, exhibition catalogue, Alexandria Press reprint, London, 1985, pl.135; In Palaces and Tents, Islamic World from China to Europe, exhibition catalogue, Saint Petersburg, 2008, no.31, p.47). It shares many features with the present deer including the almost identical height; ours is a mere 2mm taller. Its stance on thin well sculpted legs, its softly moulded contours, its powerful well rounded chest, its inlaid eyes (albeit in silver rather than copper), its handle linking the rump and back of the head through which to fill it, the narrowly open mouth and the shortened horns are all features held in common with our deer. It has very little engraved decoration on the body, but has a moulded necklace with pendants around its neck. The necklace is very much a feature of Sasanian art, and although it is included in the 2008 exhibition of Islamic Art, it is catalogued there as late Sasanian. Our deer has a much more elegant attenuated neck than the Russian example, whose proportions are much stockier, comparable to a number of the animals that are found woven into late Sasanian and Sogdian silks. Ours also has considerably more engraving on the surface, and that is even when one considers that the decoration is quite rubbed, with the remains for example of a complex design on the chest.
One of the features of Islamic bronze sculpture is that the surface is almost invariably decorated, in contrast to either Byzantine or Sasanian examples. Sometimes the decoration is relatively naturalistic as with the feathering on the Hermitage eagle, but frequently it makes no attempt in that direction. Another frequent feature is to highlight the breast either with a roundel or with a band of inscription. Our deer's chest is rubbed, but the remains of engraved decoration can clearly be seen. In many other places delicate engraving has been used to highlight certain features, giving the surface extra contours and depth.
A number of the earliest bronze animals are attributed to the Arab heartlands, notably Iraq, but, apart from the Western Islamic tradition in Spain and Southern Italy, the vast majority of the surviving examples are Iranian. The present example, as has already been demonstrated, has a Sasanian bronze antecedent. In it construction with a handle linking the rump and the back of the neck there is another bronze animal which can be seen as a successor, a goose in the Khalili Collection (J.M. Rogers, The Arts of Islam, Treasures from the Nasser D, Khalili Collection, Abu Dhabi, 2008, no,92, pp.90-91). It is signed by Abu'l-Qasim ibn Muhammad al-Haravi, and is ascribed to the 12th century. The eyes are inlaid, but with turquoise glazed ceramic. The decoration is typical of the 12th century Khorassan school, but the form goes straight back to the goose in in the Hermitage illustrated on the same page as the Sasanian or post Sasanian deer noted above. As one would expect from an important bronze sculpture from 12th century Khorassan, the form is much more solid, more stylised, with none of the soft modelling found in our deer. Our deer is clearly in the Iranian tradition, very close to the Sasanian model, but lacking the typical Sasanian elements, and with fine surface engraved decoration typical of early Islamic bronzes. It is a magnificent and beautiful piece of sculture when seen in the round, its head slightly turned to one side, giving it a restlessness, capturing the sirit of the animal, standing still, but with head slightly cocked, waiting for any indicator, however slight, to run.
It is well established the there was no ban on the depiction of animals and even the human form in the early years of Islam. Palaces that survive show human figures in frescoes or carvings on the walls. Qusayr 'Amra dating from 711-715 AD, has a ceiling lattice filled with hunting scenes, and a half naked lady by a swimming pool; Qasr el-Kheir al-Gharbi built in 724-743 has hunting scenes and large scale figures in niches; Khirbat al Mafjar in Jordan, built in 743-744, has free-standing stucco figures and mosaics with deer, and the most famous of all, Mshatta, now in the Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin, has a faade whose foliage is teeming with animals of various types (Katarina Otto-Dorn, Kunst des Islam, Baden-Baden, 1964, pp.40-57). It is no surprise at all with this background that among the early Islamic oeuvre are a number of spectacular and generally well-known bronze animals cast in the round, the best of which are considered among the absolute masterpieces of Islamic Art.
The earliest examples tend to be the most realistic, as one would expect from art that was at that stage influenced by Sasanian and Byzantine art. Two magnificent eagles in the Berlin Museum of Islamic Art (Stephan Waetzoldt (intro by) Kunst der Welt in den Berliner Museen, Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin, Stuttgart, 1980, no.8, pp.28-9) and in the Hermitage signed by Master Sulayman and dated AH 180/796-7 AD (Mikhail Piotrovski, On Islamic Art, St. Petersburg, 2000, pp.71-73; M.B.Piotrovsky and J.M.Rogers, Heaven on Earth, Art from Islamic Lands, Munich, Berlin, London and New York, 2004, no.30, pp.80-81), together with a third in the Monastery of St Catherine, Sinai, while not completely realistic, have a monumentality and magnificence about them which is completely achieved from the sculptural form rather than the decoration. A small number of other single figure sculptures date from this very early period in the Eastern Mediterranean area, including a goose in the Hermitage Museum (Ausstellung von Meisterwerken Muhammedanischer Kunst in München 1910, exhibition catalogue, Alexandria Press reprint, London, 1985, pl.135).
One other animal sculpted in the round dating from the very early Islamic period is a deer in the Hermitage (Ausstellung von Meisterwerken Muhammedanischer Kunst in München 1910, exhibition catalogue, Alexandria Press reprint, London, 1985, pl.135; In Palaces and Tents, Islamic World from China to Europe, exhibition catalogue, Saint Petersburg, 2008, no.31, p.47). It shares many features with the present deer including the almost identical height; ours is a mere 2mm taller. Its stance on thin well sculpted legs, its softly moulded contours, its powerful well rounded chest, its inlaid eyes (albeit in silver rather than copper), its handle linking the rump and back of the head through which to fill it, the narrowly open mouth and the shortened horns are all features held in common with our deer. It has very little engraved decoration on the body, but has a moulded necklace with pendants around its neck. The necklace is very much a feature of Sasanian art, and although it is included in the 2008 exhibition of Islamic Art, it is catalogued there as late Sasanian. Our deer has a much more elegant attenuated neck than the Russian example, whose proportions are much stockier, comparable to a number of the animals that are found woven into late Sasanian and Sogdian silks. Ours also has considerably more engraving on the surface, and that is even when one considers that the decoration is quite rubbed, with the remains for example of a complex design on the chest.
One of the features of Islamic bronze sculpture is that the surface is almost invariably decorated, in contrast to either Byzantine or Sasanian examples. Sometimes the decoration is relatively naturalistic as with the feathering on the Hermitage eagle, but frequently it makes no attempt in that direction. Another frequent feature is to highlight the breast either with a roundel or with a band of inscription. Our deer's chest is rubbed, but the remains of engraved decoration can clearly be seen. In many other places delicate engraving has been used to highlight certain features, giving the surface extra contours and depth.
A number of the earliest bronze animals are attributed to the Arab heartlands, notably Iraq, but, apart from the Western Islamic tradition in Spain and Southern Italy, the vast majority of the surviving examples are Iranian. The present example, as has already been demonstrated, has a Sasanian bronze antecedent. In it construction with a handle linking the rump and the back of the neck there is another bronze animal which can be seen as a successor, a goose in the Khalili Collection (J.M. Rogers, The Arts of Islam, Treasures from the Nasser D, Khalili Collection, Abu Dhabi, 2008, no,92, pp.90-91). It is signed by Abu'l-Qasim ibn Muhammad al-Haravi, and is ascribed to the 12th century. The eyes are inlaid, but with turquoise glazed ceramic. The decoration is typical of the 12th century Khorassan school, but the form goes straight back to the goose in in the Hermitage illustrated on the same page as the Sasanian or post Sasanian deer noted above. As one would expect from an important bronze sculpture from 12th century Khorassan, the form is much more solid, more stylised, with none of the soft modelling found in our deer. Our deer is clearly in the Iranian tradition, very close to the Sasanian model, but lacking the typical Sasanian elements, and with fine surface engraved decoration typical of early Islamic bronzes. It is a magnificent and beautiful piece of sculture when seen in the round, its head slightly turned to one side, giving it a restlessness, capturing the sirit of the animal, standing still, but with head slightly cocked, waiting for any indicator, however slight, to run.