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Important Mamluk basin bearing the name of a great amir of a…
See original version (French)
35
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Important Mamluk basin bearing the name of a great amir of a…
See original version (French)
Estimate €12,000 - €18,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Important Mamluk basin bearing the name of a great amir of al-Malik al-Nasir
Syria or Egypt, Mamluk period, second half of 14th century
Hammered and engraved copper, deep cylindrical shape with a wide flared rim. The inner rim features a calligraphic band in thulth interrupted by circular medallions depicting ducks in flight; the base features seven medallions with engraved spiral motifs. On the outside, the body features a second epigraphic register in thulth on a background of spiral arabesques, punctuated by three foliate mandorles.
Condition: cracks restored with riveted metal plates; brown patina applied after 1979 - the piece was described without patina in the Ader-Picard-Tajan sale of 31 May 1979.
H. 18 x D. 45 cm (7.1 x 17.7 in.)
Provenance :
Ader-Picard-Tajan sale, Paris, 31 May 1979, no. 48.
Collection of M. Rambert-Rat, Versailles, sold by Me Boisgirard, 4 and 5 February 1998.
French private collection, on deposit at the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, from 2005 to 2023.
Related work :
Bassin aux titres d'un grand émir d'al-Malik al-Nasir, circa 1330/1340. Musée du Louvre, inv. OA 7880/116.
Inscriptions:
Two long thulth bands list the honorary titles of an anonymous emir in the service of a sultan with the regnal title al-Malik al-Nasir. The litany invokes in turn the military virtues - "al-amir al-kabir" ("the great amir"), "al-ghazi al-mujahid al-murabit" ("the holy warrior, the champion of the faith, the defender") -, political virtues - "al-qawam al-nizam al-kafil" ("the pillar, the orderer, the viceroy") - and, more singularly, pious virtues - "al-zahid al-'abid al-khashi' al-nasik" ("the ascetic, the worshipper, the humble, the devout"). The two registers close with the formula of allegiance "al-maliki al-nasiri" ("the affiliate of al-Malik al-Nasir").
The deep cylindrical shape, the epigraphic programme spread over two registers, the medallions inherited from the Ilkhanid animal repertoire - ducks in flight - and the combination of spiral arabesques and foliated mandorles place this basin at the heart of the great production of engraved Mamluk copperware of the 14th century, of which the Louvre, the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art preserve the most famous examples.
The singular interest of this piece lies in the richness of its epigraphic protocol. The medallions with flying ducks, a motif of Far Eastern origin popularised by the Ilkhanid workshops in Iran before being passed on to the workshops in Cairo and Damascus, are a stylistic signature of this period of intense exchanges between the Mamluk and Mongol courts.
An important Mamluk engraved copper basin inscribed for a high-ranking emir affiliated with sultan al-Malik al-Nasir, Syria or Egypt, second half of the 14th century.
The inscriptions deploy the full vocabulary of Mamluk court rhetoric - al-amir al-kabir ("the great emir"), al-ghazi al-mujahid ("the holy warrior, the champion of the faith") and, more unusually, al-zahid al-'abid ("the ascetic, the worshipful") - closing on both registers with the formula of allegiance al-maliki al-nasiri, "the affiliated with al-Malik al-Nasir".
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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