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Lot Essay
In its overall conceit, this basin relates closely to one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, left to them by Edward C. Moore in 1891 (Esin Atil, Renaissance of Islam. Art of the Mamluks, exhibition catalogue, Washington D.C., 1981, no.35, pp.102-03). That example bears the name of the Sultan Qaitbay, and is dated to circa 1470-90. After a period of relative decline in the first half of the 15th century, under Qaitbay artists revived traditions and created new forms and designs in metalwork. One of their innovations was the production of bowls with articulated bases composed of a series of scallops executed in relief, as seen on our bowl (Atil, op.cit., p.102). In the engraving the artists also showed innovation, using a new array of floral motifs, including lotuses and peonies as in the floral register around the rim of our bowl. Another bowl, which shares all these features, and is dated to the second half of the 15th century is in the Musée des arts décoratifs (no.20254, L’Islam dans les collections nationales, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1977, no.100, p.81). A spectacular example, also with the name of Qaitbay and heavily inlaid with gold and silver is in the Türk ve Islam Eserleri Müzesi (Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom, The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250-1800, New York, 1994, no.142, p.111).
Yashbak al-Zahiri (d.1482), for whom our bowl was made, was the head of the army and dawadar, one of the most powerful people during the reign of Qaitbay (Adam Sabra, Poverty and Charity in Medieval Islam: Mamluk Cairo. 1250-1517, Cambridge, 2000, p.66). The historian Shams al-Din Muhammad bin Aja (d.1476) wrote a biography of him, Tarikh al-Amir Yashbak al-Zahiri (Doris Behrens-Abouseif, The Art of the Mamluks in Egypt and Syria, Evolution and Impact, Göttingen, 2012, pp. 308-309). He owned the best preserved palace in Mamluk Cairo, situated to the west of the complex of Sultan Hassan. The oldest part was built for Qawsun, the cup-bearer of al-Nasir Muhammad, but today the complex is known more commonly as the Palace of Yashbak (Jonathon Bloom & Sheila Blair, The Art and Architecture of Islam, 1250-1800, New York, 1994, p.94). An inscription from his palace has survived, which gives him the title Isfahsalar from the Persian Sipahsalar (Max van Berchem, Matériaux pour un corpus inscriptionum arabicarum, I, Egypte, Paris, 1903, no. 305, p.452). A closely related bowl was sold at Sotheby’s, 25 April 1991, lot 888.
Yashbak al-Zahiri (d.1482), for whom our bowl was made, was the head of the army and dawadar, one of the most powerful people during the reign of Qaitbay (Adam Sabra, Poverty and Charity in Medieval Islam: Mamluk Cairo. 1250-1517, Cambridge, 2000, p.66). The historian Shams al-Din Muhammad bin Aja (d.1476) wrote a biography of him, Tarikh al-Amir Yashbak al-Zahiri (Doris Behrens-Abouseif, The Art of the Mamluks in Egypt and Syria, Evolution and Impact, Göttingen, 2012, pp. 308-309). He owned the best preserved palace in Mamluk Cairo, situated to the west of the complex of Sultan Hassan. The oldest part was built for Qawsun, the cup-bearer of al-Nasir Muhammad, but today the complex is known more commonly as the Palace of Yashbak (Jonathon Bloom & Sheila Blair, The Art and Architecture of Islam, 1250-1800, New York, 1994, p.94). An inscription from his palace has survived, which gives him the title Isfahsalar from the Persian Sipahsalar (Max van Berchem, Matériaux pour un corpus inscriptionum arabicarum, I, Egypte, Paris, 1903, no. 305, p.452). A closely related bowl was sold at Sotheby’s, 25 April 1991, lot 888.