EGYPT, 15TH CENTURY

Details

A MAMLUK TINNED-COPPER BOWL
EGYPT, 15TH CENTURY
Of deep rounded form, the shoulder with a densely engraved band of inscription alternating with dense arabesque interlace and divided by rosette roundels, occasional pendants, later engraved floral motifs on interior, old repair, tinning rubbed
12 3/8 in. (31.4 cm.) diam. at mouth

Provenance

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, New York.
Acquired from the estate of the above December 1 1960

Literature

R. Ellsworth et al., The David and Peggy Rockefeller Collection: Arts of Asia and Neighboring Cultures, New York, 1993, vol III, p. 393, no. 293.

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Lot Essay

In the cartouches around the body, with parts missing and words repeated, Arabic verses:

balaghta min al-‘ulya a‘la [a]l-mara[tib] / al-maratib
wa qaranaka al / wa qaranaka al-taw/fiq [a]l-tawfiq min kull janib
wa / la zalta marghuban ilayka / ilayka wa [ba]sitan
yamin[ayka fi’]l-dun[ya bi-nayl al-maratib]

“You have reached through greatness the highest of ranks,
And success has accompanied you on all sides,
You continue to be desired and to stretch
Out your hands into the world in the attainment of rank.”

These verses are commonly found on 15th-century Mamluk metalwork. (Doris Behrens-Abousaif, “Veneto-Saracenic Metalware in Mamluk Art”, in Mamluk Studies Review IX (2), 2005, p. 150).

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