Roseberys London
Lot 246
A monumental bronze bowl signed ‘Abu Bakr Muhamad Ibn Hasan Al-Herati’,Herat, Iran, 13th century,of hemispherical form on a short foot, with wide flaring rim, the rim with six inscription cartouches, four comprising thuluth inscriptions and rabbits on a vegetal ground and two with naskh inscriptions, alternating with roundels, area of loss to rim, 71.3cm. diam. Published: Christie’s Arts of the Islamic and Indian Worlds, Including works from the Simon Digby Collection, Thursday 7 April 2011, lot 46 (£70,000-100,000 estimate). Provenance: Acquired by the vendor from a UK Private Collection, where it had reputedly been acquired in the 1960’s.Inscriptions:In thuluth to the rim: al'izz wa'l-iqbal wa'l-dawla wa'l salama wa'l-shafa'a wa'l-... wa'l-shukr wa'l-shakira wa'l-'afiya wa'l-tama wa'l-rahma wa'l-rahima, "Glory and fortune and wealth and well-being and happiness and intercession and ... and gratitude and gratefulness and health and entirety and mercy and compassion."In naskh to the rim: Owner's inscription haji hasan (?) khalvati, "Haji Hasan (?) Khalvati"Maker's inscription 'amal abi bakr muhammad ibn hasan (?) al-herati, "made by 'Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Herati" Footnotes: This large bowl is a very rare example of large scale Khorassan metalwork, the quality of which is confirmed by the engraved inscriptions; the maker's signature to the rim, the owner's inscription, and the benedictory inscriptions in thuluth wishing good health and compassion on the owner. The bowl stands on a wide, circular foot and is larger in diameter than any of the published Khorassan bronze cauldrons, the largest comparable vessels datable to this period. The presence of a maker's signature is particularly remarkable and is paralleled in the aforementioned caudrons indicating the casting large bronze vessels was something of a technical feat. A cauldron in the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg has a maker's signature of Abu Bakr Mahmud Saffra and a further example in the Victoria and Albert Museum is signed Abu Bakr (see A.S. Melikian Chirvani, Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World, London, 1982, pl. 10, p. 48). The signature on our bowl is also interesting as it places the vessel's manufacture in Herat, which was formerly eastern Khorassan. Condition Report: Intact with dented areas on rim, natural patination to the surface.
