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Lot Essay
This large basin in the Mamluk style is part of a series made by Theodore Deck (1823-1891) after 1863. He gave the first piece of this series to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs that year (Inv. UC 515, published in Purs Décors, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 2007, cat.251, p.254). It is directly copied from a Mamluk gold and silver-inlaid basin published by Adalbert de Beaumont in 1859 (Recueil de dessins pour l’art et l’industrie, Paris, 1859, pl.54). The interest for Fatimid and Mamluk Egypt increases after the publication in the 1840s of the works of Pascal Coste (Architecture arabe ou monumens du Kaire, Paris, 1839) and Girault de Prangey. For further discussion on Theodore Deck, see lot 117 in this sale.
The inscription reads 'izz li-mawlana al-sultan al-malik al-'amil al-'adi al-mujahid Nasir al-dunya wa al-din Muhammad bin Qalawun (Glory to our Master, the Sultan, the King, the Diligent, the Just, the Defender, Nasir al-Din Muhammad bin Qalawun). The inscription is precise and executed in a fine thuluth script, copying exactly the piece published by Adalbert de Beaumont, a Mamluk basin in the name of Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad (r. 1293-95; 1299-1309; 1310-42 AD).
The inscription reads 'izz li-mawlana al-sultan al-malik al-'amil al-'adi al-mujahid Nasir al-dunya wa al-din Muhammad bin Qalawun (Glory to our Master, the Sultan, the King, the Diligent, the Just, the Defender, Nasir al-Din Muhammad bin Qalawun). The inscription is precise and executed in a fine thuluth script, copying exactly the piece published by Adalbert de Beaumont, a Mamluk basin in the name of Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad (r. 1293-95; 1299-1309; 1310-42 AD).