A silver and copper-inlaid brass inkwell, greater Khurasan, 13th century

Ex-collection Joseph Brummer (1883-1947), New York

Ex-collection Richard Ettinghausen (1906-79), USA

M. Aga-Oglu, 'A Preliminary Note On Two Artists From Nishapur', Bulletin of the Iranian Institute, vol.6/7, 1946, pp.121-4, figs 3 and 4

inscriptions

Around the lid, in cursive:

Al-‘izz wa al-iqbal wa al-dawlah / wa al-salamah wa al-sa’ad/ah wa al-shifa’ah wa li-sahibihi, ‘Glory and prosperity and wealth and well-being and happiness and (Prophet’s) intercession and (sic) to its owner’

Around the rim of the lid, in Kufic:

‘amal nasir bin as’ad nisha/buri barakah wa al-daw/la wa al-salamah li-sahibihi, ‘The work of Nasir ibn As’ad Nishaburi.  Blessing and wealth and well-being to its owner’

Around the body, partially undeciphered, muzaffar bad ‘May it be victorious’

In the centre of the roundel, ‘amal ‘abd a/l-latif ibn …. allah, ‘The work of ‘Abd al-Latif…’ God’

The slightly curved body and lobed finial of the present inkwell follow the profile typical of thirteenth century inkwells produced in greater Khurasan; see an example sold in these rooms, 31 March 2021, lot 75. The sculptural finial is the most unusual and distinct feature of this rare example, crafted in the form of three openwork sphynxes circling and knotted sphere. The moulding of the sphynxes recalls a magnificent ewer in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no.44.15), with a complex decoration of crowned harpies to its shoulder, as well as a rosewater sprinkler produced in Herat with ten lions and six birds in the David collection (inv. no.15/1991). The delicate crafting of the finial is reflected in the fine encircling inscriptions written in naskh with human head terminals of various forms.