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Under the Timurids and their contemporaries, the arts in Iran and Central Asia persisted in their excellence and intelligence. From the shrine of Ahmed Yasavi in Turkestan, Iran, comes this uniquely designed cauldron of bronze. The basin consists of an almost hemispherical bowl on a slender foot. The top half of the exterior is decorated with two horizontal bands of cursive and angular inscriptions punctuated by bosses and pendant handles, write Blair and Bloom (1994). On the bottom half are pendant triangular cartouches of arabesque tracery. (p. 56) |
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This brass lamp is another impressive design from the shrine of Ahmad Yasavi in Turkestan. About 36-inches high, the lamp has three oil reservoirs. This lamp presents a deeply indented profile which offers a variety of flat, concave and convex surfaces of decoration, and it is inlaid with silver and gold. Write Blair and Bloom, "...bands with inscriptions set on a dense arabesque ground contrast with plain surfaces engraved with palmettos, knots, and cartouches." (p. 56) |
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During the Mamluk era (1250 - 1517), architecture was the pre-eminent art, and the Mamluks' patronage of architecture defined many other Islamic arts. Objects like lamps, glass, brass candlesticks, paper Qur'an manuscripts and wooden minbars were well designed, calligraphed and decorated. The two great periods of Mamluk art coincided with the reigns of al-Nasir Mohammed (1294-1340) and al-Ashraf Qaytbay (1468-1496).
Early examples of fine metalwork were produced during the Mamluk rule in Egypt and Syria. This is an image of a brass candlestick with a truncated conical base supporting a cylindrical neck and truncated conical socket. The profile is distinctly squat. Write Blair and Bloom, "The surface, once impeccably inlaid in silver and gold, is divided into horizontal bands. The largest has roundels containing arabesque friezes around a geometric interlace alternating with concave-ended cartouches containing knotted pseudo-Kufic inscriptions. Above and below are friezes of running animals. The neck is covered with latticework interrupted by five quatrefoils with figures holding tambourines, lutes, and cymbals. These figural compositions are executed with extremely fine detail." (p. 98) |
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This large basin known as the "Baptistere de Saint-Louis" (in the Louvre Museum) is an example of fine metalwork during the Mamluk era. (The name has nothing to do with Louis IX of France who died well before the basin was made.) Such basins were used for the ceremonial washing of hands and usually were made in sets with matching ewers, write Blair and Bloom. This basin differs from most other pieces of its era by virtue of the absence of epigraphic bands and by the total reliance on the detailed and superbly executed figural compositions that cover most of the interior and exterior surfaces. Note Blair and Bloom, "The four cartouches on the main band alternate with four roundels depicting mounted figures. Two wear hats and cloaks and spear a dragon or a bear, while the two in alternating roundels wear turbans, robes, and boots." (p. 98) The interior of the basin has a similar arrangement, alternating roundels and panels between animal friezes. The panels show two hunting scenes and two battle scenes in which figures wear a third type of headgear. "The distinctive physiognomy and dress distinguish three types of figures; indigenous servants and hunters, Mamluk amirs, and Mongol enemies," write Blair and Bloom. "The base is covered with a fantastic fishpond inhabited by crabs, eels, tortoises, frogs, a lizard, wild duck, pelican, crocodile, and two harpies." (p. 99)
The superb craftsmanship, precision of detail and figural types make this basin the masterpiece of all Mamluk and perhaps of all Islamic metalwork. |
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During the second half of the 14th century, the production of high quality metalwork continued, despite the economic distress of the Mamluks. The Mamluks still commissioned artistic pieces, and Egyptian metalwork was so appreciated that foreign patrons sought pieces for export to East and West. About 21-inches tall, this beautiful ewer is one of a series of inlaid brasses made in Cairo. Blair and Bloom note that its overall shape, an inverted pear with cylindrical neck, straight narrow spout and curving handle, follows Ayyubid models, but the heavy mouth and bold rings are typical Mamluk innovations. (p. 105) |
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The traditional decoration of the Mamluks continued into the first half of the 15th century. Pincer-topped Thuluth script was a characteristic feature of metalwork made for Qaytbay. Although a few of the pieces inscribed with his name are only incised, a few of the finest are inlaid with gold and silver, showing that Egyptian craftsmen could still equal the quality of work produced more than a century earlier. This large lobed brass bowl inlaid with silver and gold is, write Blair and Bloom, perhaps the finest piece surviving from the Mamluk period. (p. 111) |
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