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Lot Essay
The inscription along the lower edge of the panel undoubtedly refers to the artist, whose first name is unfortunately obscured by corrosion. The decorative scheme of this plaque is highly unusual, composed of a repeated pattern of subtly integrated vegetal and figural elements forming a lattice of two overlapping tri-lobate arcades. There are two registers of figures, the lower one of pairs of winged confronted lions, the upper tier with frontal crowned human figures seated upon thrones. The figure furthest left is seated in profile (this being the end of the plaque; the right end is missing). Issuing from the head of the each lion is a long horn-like projection, which become the sides of a series of tri-lobate arches. Issuing from the tails of each pair of lions is a fleur-de-lys which in turn issues a pair of large split-palmettes, the ends of which are held in each hand of a crowned figure. The head of each of these figures becomes the apex of another series of tri-lobate arches, approximately twice the width of the first. A very similar kind of geometry is seen on the carved stone slabs from the 12th century palace of Mas'ud III at Ghazni, where a similarly dense repeated lattice is formed by overlapping tri-lobate arcades, with one set of arches of double width, and a corresponding use of minor elements, fleurs-de-lys and split-palmettes, as space-fillers (Alessio Bombaci, The Kufic Inscription in Persian Verses in the Court of the Royal Palace of Mas'ud at Ghazni, Rome, 1966, pls.XI, XII, figs.141-3). Along with the name of the artist, these features strongly suggest an Eastern Iranian or Central Asian provenance for this plaque.
This attribution is further supported by one of the very few items that closely relates to the present panel, a parcel gilt and niello dagger handle in the Furusiyya Art Foundation Collection (Bashir Mohamed, The Arts of the Muslim Knight, Milan, 2007, no.144, p.151 and also p.140). The entire handle is formed by a single human figure modelled in three dimensions. The technique used is almost identical and the features very similar, particularly the scrolling vine leaves set against a niello ground. That dagger handle is attributed to Afghanistan dating from the 10th or 11th century.
There is an ambiguous relationship in the present panel between the vegetal and figural elements. What seem to be the wings of the lion could equally be split-palmettes which support the thrones of the royal figures, while at the same time forming the apex of another arcade of tri-lobate elements. This tendency could explain one of the most idiosyncratic elements in the whole composition, the royal figures clutching at the large and oddly-shaped split-palmettes. A possible clue is given by the bifurcate endings of these vegetal features, which resemble fishes' tails, and the relation of the seated figure to a curious winged personage which appears on a medallion below the handle of a 12th century ewer in the Cleveland Museum, discussed by D.S. Rice. That character is also seated cross-legged and frontally, and holds in his outstretched hands a pair of fish. So too does another in the ornamental headpiece of a 15th century Persian anthology in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where the fish quite clearly become part of the vegetal arabesque lattice within which the figure sits (D. S. Rice, 'Inlaid Brasses from the Workshop of Ahmad Al-Dhaki Al-Mawsili', Ars Orientalis, Vol. 2, 1957, pp.283-326, see p.291, figs.6, 7a, 7b). These figures appear to be based on the Zodiac sign Pisces, often depicted as a frontal seated man holding two fish. A late 12th or early 13th century silver-inlaid casket attributed to Ghurid Herat and decorated with zodiac motifs was sold in these Rooms 30 April 2026, lot 15.
Shortly before the production of this plaque, at some time in the 12th century, the Eastern Iranian region appears to have experienced an acute silver shortage. Metalworkers instead turned to brass, with inlaid designs in silver and copper (Ferrier (ed.), op cit, p.177-8). Compared to this metalwork of a slightly later period, the technique and decoration of the present plaque piece seem at first slightly archaic. The repoussé method, when used on the sheet silver, encourages a sculptural treatment of figures and ornament, which is clearly related to Sassanian types, and is quite absent from the inlaid brass pieces of the 13th century onwards. On those, made from a material rather less ductile than silver, the decorative emphasis shifts further towards surface pattern and away from the form so prevalent in pre-Mongol times.
This attribution is further supported by one of the very few items that closely relates to the present panel, a parcel gilt and niello dagger handle in the Furusiyya Art Foundation Collection (Bashir Mohamed, The Arts of the Muslim Knight, Milan, 2007, no.144, p.151 and also p.140). The entire handle is formed by a single human figure modelled in three dimensions. The technique used is almost identical and the features very similar, particularly the scrolling vine leaves set against a niello ground. That dagger handle is attributed to Afghanistan dating from the 10th or 11th century.
There is an ambiguous relationship in the present panel between the vegetal and figural elements. What seem to be the wings of the lion could equally be split-palmettes which support the thrones of the royal figures, while at the same time forming the apex of another arcade of tri-lobate elements. This tendency could explain one of the most idiosyncratic elements in the whole composition, the royal figures clutching at the large and oddly-shaped split-palmettes. A possible clue is given by the bifurcate endings of these vegetal features, which resemble fishes' tails, and the relation of the seated figure to a curious winged personage which appears on a medallion below the handle of a 12th century ewer in the Cleveland Museum, discussed by D.S. Rice. That character is also seated cross-legged and frontally, and holds in his outstretched hands a pair of fish. So too does another in the ornamental headpiece of a 15th century Persian anthology in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where the fish quite clearly become part of the vegetal arabesque lattice within which the figure sits (D. S. Rice, 'Inlaid Brasses from the Workshop of Ahmad Al-Dhaki Al-Mawsili', Ars Orientalis, Vol. 2, 1957, pp.283-326, see p.291, figs.6, 7a, 7b). These figures appear to be based on the Zodiac sign Pisces, often depicted as a frontal seated man holding two fish. A late 12th or early 13th century silver-inlaid casket attributed to Ghurid Herat and decorated with zodiac motifs was sold in these Rooms 30 April 2026, lot 15.
Shortly before the production of this plaque, at some time in the 12th century, the Eastern Iranian region appears to have experienced an acute silver shortage. Metalworkers instead turned to brass, with inlaid designs in silver and copper (Ferrier (ed.), op cit, p.177-8). Compared to this metalwork of a slightly later period, the technique and decoration of the present plaque piece seem at first slightly archaic. The repoussé method, when used on the sheet silver, encourages a sculptural treatment of figures and ornament, which is clearly related to Sassanian types, and is quite absent from the inlaid brass pieces of the 13th century onwards. On those, made from a material rather less ductile than silver, the decorative emphasis shifts further towards surface pattern and away from the form so prevalent in pre-Mongol times.