Lot 159 A GILT-COPPER OPENWORK FINIAL, 15TH CENTURY
Possibly of a standard, of circular form, decorated with three lines of elongated Thuluth script below a lamp emblem, remnants of gilding, heavy corrosion.
Diameter: 30 cm.
The partially legible inscriptions include the following:
Upper band: Allah … Muhammad
Central band: rasul Allah, Abu-Bakr…..
Lower band: ‘Umar al-faruq, ‘Uthman dhi’l nurayn.
This finial bears the names of the rightful Calips below the name of God and his Prophet Muhammad. Its form suggests it was a finial within a religious context. The script is clearly Mamluk in feel, as is the use of gilt-copper, even though the execution is relatively provincial. The tripartite division of the roundel also immediately suggests the Mamluk blazon concept, particularly from the later period, while the upper lamp also echoes the saqi or cup-bearer’s blazon. This echo Is enhanced by the upper band above the motif, similar to the upper part of a tripartite blazon.
But the ‘blazon’ is a mosque lamp, not a cup, and the inscription is clearly completely religious, even if not all is easily decipherable. The form suggests a processional standard, but it has to be Sunni rather than Shiite, and in any case the support would need reinforcement were it to have been used on top of something that moved. It seems much more probable that it was made for use in a static context, potentially on top of an architectural element of possibly a furnishing such as a minbar.
One further clue is given by the arrangement of the script. The larger bolder lettering runs the full height of each register, while through the centre runs a secondary series of words which are more angular and at times have elements, particularly the long horizontals that are more akin to kufic than to cursive scripts. This overlaying of a minor band of kufic through a band of larger cursive script was not a feature of Mamluk architecture, but is found throughout the Timurid world, possible indicating an origin near the borders with the Timurid realm.
PROVENANCE
Private collection, Germany