Lot 136 A LARGE MAMLUK BRASS BOWL WITH INSCRIPTIONS, EGYPT OR SYRIA, 14TH CENTURY
A large bowl of deep rounded form decorated around the rim with an elegant benedictory inscription separated by six roundels each containing a whirling rosette, the interior with a geometric roundel.
17 by 39 cm.
Inscriptions
Around the shoulder in a cursive hand:
al-‘izz wa al-iqbal wa / al-dawlah wa al-sala/mah wa al-sa’adah / wa al-‘afiyah li-sahibih
‘Glory and prosperity and wealth and well-being and happiness and health to its owner.
Catalogue note The finely executed decoration combined with language used would suggest it was intended for a high-ranking patron. The benedictory inscriptions here are not just typical of similar metalwork but can be found on many other forms of Mamluk art and architecture of the late 13th and early 14th centuries.The bowl is engraved on the exterior with "Bi-Rasm Bilban al-Bitahi", made for the price of Aleppo in 699/1299 born in Mecca, Said al-Dain Bilban al-Bitahi al-Mansuri.