THE BLADE SIGNED BY MURAD IBN KHUSHQADAM (HOŞQADAM), OTTOMAN TURKEY, 16TH CENTURY

Though born in Mamluk Syria, Murad ibn Khushqadam (Hoşqadam) is known to have been one of the swordsmiths working for Sultan Sulayman I (r.1520-66). The movement of craftspeople between the Mamluk and Ottoman domains in the sixteenth century is well attested, as the Ottoman court either lured or abducted the best craftsmen from conquered territories in Iran and the Levant to work for them. Thus, the signature of another Mamluk sword maker, al-Hajj Sunqur, appears on blades made both for the Mamluk Sultan al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri (r. 1501-16) and for Bayezid II (r.1481-1512). Swords bearing ibn Khushqadam's signature are kept in the Museum for Islamic Art, Cairo (Inv. no. 3647), and the Museum für Deutsche Geschichte in Berlin (L. A. Mayer, Islamic Armourers and their Works, Geneva, 1962, pl.XVI). Further swords of his have been offered in these Rooms, 15 October 1996, lot 203, and a particularly fine gold-inlaid example on 26 April 2012, lot 241.