MAMLUK EGYPT, MID-14TH CENTURY

The tray stand is one of the better known of Mamluk forms, even though not that many survive to the present day. Those that do show a clear progression in form. The earliest examples, which can be dated to the late 13th century, are much shorter, more purely cylindrical, and heavier cast. The earliest known of this form, formerly in the Charles Schefer Collection, was made for the Amir Aydamur al-Zardkash (d.1300 or 1314) (deaccessioned by the Los Angeles Museum of Art, Christie’s London, 15 October 2002, lot 134). Intermediate stages are shown by an example in the L A Mayer Memorial Museum, Jerusalem, and one in the Furusiyya Collection (inv.no.R-2088). There is then a group that have much broader inscriptions, and a more clearly biconical form, a number of which can be associated with the reign of Sultan al-Malik al-Nasir Muhammad (r.1293-1341 with interregna). Many of these are discussed in an article by John Carswell (John Carswell, 'An Early Ming Porcelain Stand from Damascus', Oriental Art, Autumn 1966, vol. XII, no.3, pp.176-182). The latest of the form, which continue the same basic characteristics as the previous group, seem to come from the reign of Sultan Hassan (r.1347-1351 and 1355-1361), for an example see the Nuhad es-Said Collection (James Allan, Islamic Metalwork, The Nuhad es-said Collection, London, 1982, no.19, pp.96-7).

This example seems to have the more attenuated proportions and the very strong vertical hastae of the inscription of the later examples of this sequence, and can thus be dated to the second quarter or mid-14th century.