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Lot Essay
The inscription around the body reads:
al-‘izz wa’l-nasr wa’l-iqbal wa’/l-ni ‘ma wa’l-jud [wa’]l-majd wa’l-ifd[a]l /al-karam al-‘ilm al-hilm, ‘Glory and victory and prosperity and favour and open-handedness and grandeur and eminence, liberality, knowledge, forebearance.’
The squat form and short mouth of this candlestick are closely comparable to the earliest dated example of metalwork in Mamluk Egypt, dated AH 668⁄1269 AD, held in the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo (E. Atil, Renaissance of Islam: Art of the Mamluks, Washington, 1981, pp.57-58, no.10). That example is largely inspired by Ayyubid metalwork both in the figural medallions and kufic inscriptions, and is signed by an artist with the nisba 'Al-Mawsili' (from Mosul). The kufic inscription on the shoulder of the present candlestick and the cusped roundels are reminiscent of its Mosul predecessors but the decorative repertoire is much more aligned with the Mamluk metalwork of the late-13th to early 14th century. Figural roundels here have given way to bold inscripitions and the roundels are filled with swooping ducks. A closely comparable early 14th candlestick of similar form is in the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo (inv.no.15118).
al-‘izz wa’l-nasr wa’l-iqbal wa’/l-ni ‘ma wa’l-jud [wa’]l-majd wa’l-ifd[a]l /al-karam al-‘ilm al-hilm, ‘Glory and victory and prosperity and favour and open-handedness and grandeur and eminence, liberality, knowledge, forebearance.’
The squat form and short mouth of this candlestick are closely comparable to the earliest dated example of metalwork in Mamluk Egypt, dated AH 668⁄1269 AD, held in the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo (E. Atil, Renaissance of Islam: Art of the Mamluks, Washington, 1981, pp.57-58, no.10). That example is largely inspired by Ayyubid metalwork both in the figural medallions and kufic inscriptions, and is signed by an artist with the nisba 'Al-Mawsili' (from Mosul). The kufic inscription on the shoulder of the present candlestick and the cusped roundels are reminiscent of its Mosul predecessors but the decorative repertoire is much more aligned with the Mamluk metalwork of the late-13th to early 14th century. Figural roundels here have given way to bold inscripitions and the roundels are filled with swooping ducks. A closely comparable early 14th candlestick of similar form is in the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo (inv.no.15118).