State Inkwells in Islamic Iran - Poetry and Prayer

State Inkwells in Islamic Iran
Author(s): A. S. Melikian-Chirvani
Source: The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery, Vol. 44 (1986), pp. 70-94
Published by: The Walters Art Museum
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20169023
Accessed: 03/05/2010 13:39
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Iran
in Islamic
Inkwells
State
A. S. MELIKIAN-CHIRVANI
CentreNational de laRecherche
Scientifique, Paris
The role assigned to objects in Islamic societies and,
more
specifically, the symbolism associated with
The
"state
one
of
have
function
their
in Persian
inkwell,"
the
to be
yet
d?vat-e
of
insignia
prominent
seriously
was
which
dowlat,
and
is one of the oldest symbols in public life, proba
bly predating the advent of Islam in Iran. Yet, its existence
not
been
are
and Persian. Manuscript
and
century
the
that
Art
the
surrounded
inkwell at court. A
Walters
on metalwork
scenes
Gallery
of
the
Pahlavi
both
and
royal
recorded
with
is not
ambiguity
remarkable
a
pieces,
so far. On
ment
doubt
grand
vizier
patron,
a
known
from
rated with
themes
owner
without
their
with
inscribed
verses
making
name
by
and
inscription
status
of
its
title,
who
is
and
ors
to
tine
emperor)
sources,
sources
perhaps
cases,
used as "state
because
his will
or
by
the
receives
the
same
the
grand
divan,
would
inkwells" by king and minister
vizier
was
sultan's
the
in the form of royal edicts
the
that
impression
inkwells
the
secretarial
arm,
Iran,
including
with
an
the
that
moment
for
history
requested
events
major
Iran
when
had
Khosrow
as Chosroes
II,
endeav
of Rome"
(the
Byzan
Caesar
"the
was
inkwell
with
to him:
is brought
"inkwell-and-pencase"
a
He
requested
tan silk
He
He
wrote
In
in many,
have
alike,
conveying
under
We
been
if only
[farm?n] penned by him
administration
author,
the Ghaznevid
have
the main
in the later periods. Reviewing
one
however,
most
to
eastern
in
connected
in Western
peace
sign
Its
century.1
function
Tar?kh-e
the
deco
was
he
whether
far
At
as
such
Afghanistan.
a crucial
known
Per
tenth-century
status of
the dominant
So
taken.
not yielded any information that would make it possible to
distinguish between the two types. The situation may have
varied in place and time. The existence of vizierial inkwells
is fully established
in
Finally,
and
invocations
it clear
to be
the
eleventh
sway
show
decisions
royal
Parv?z,
com
Persian.
and
a vizier.
amir?or
an
carries
in Arabic
dealing
attracted
the ministerial
that establish
sultan,
ruler?king,
one
identified
sources
early
are
others
to
scenes
not
the
held
rule
sources
whenever
late
secretarial
of present-day
much
mention
among
with
have
hand,
as
no
leaves
that
other
the
Texts
Indeed,
decorated
themes?which
royal
specific
are
few
whose
Both
inkwells.
ministerial
is therefore
the Sh?h-N?me, based on
chronicles
early
exercised
sultans
from
by Ferdows?,
in the
compiled
Beyhaq?,
specimens,
resolved.
easily
texts
early
and History
gathered
and
sources,
Beyhaq?,
state
testify to the reality of the institution.
One
to be
information
sian epic composed
The
of which
objects,
two
of Poetry
demonstrate
appearance
few surviving
preserves
Arabic
sources,
of the early fourteenth
painting
figurative
solemnity
the
in many
recorded
the
the
Perhaps the most
telling indication concerning
in
between
of
the
institution
lies
the
coincidence
antiquity
now.
until
recognized
inkwells
State
of
the objects.
considering
The Evidence
ministe
rial office,
has
some
at
glance
before
investigated.
power
royal
A
authority.
order
his
70TheJournal ofThe Walters Art Gallery 44(1986)
Script."
observed
when
and Turkis
inkwell-and-pencase,
come
the Secretary
in Pahlav?
forward
a letter
the Royal
Script
of the Shahs2
are not
But
This
bade
an
the
in a position
passage
kingly
assumption
the rebel marshall
finds
to the protocol
according
to identify
suggests
edicts
were
some
support
Bahr?m Chob?ne
that
issued
a
set
or
in another
is about
the "Royal
protocol
letters
was
written.
account.
to mount
As
the
he
throne,
imperial
an
orders
o qalam] to be placed
[dab?r]:
"inkwell-and-pencase"
The
[dav?t
in front of the imperial
secretary
ment
C*J? L^L?ji^
distichs
of puns.
full
calls
He
in Persian
of government,"
it,
literally,
"the
instru
dowlat,
and
stresses
?lat-e
is "taken from the pen [qalam]" (meter
moteq?reb):
the call of the commander
Bahr?m
A
of govern
instrument
was
that its significance
jLJ c-L^ <j-ij->.
as an
inkwell
the
deeply entrenched by the turn of the twelfth
the Khorasan
S?ber Termezj,
Ad?b
poet who
century.
wrote in the first half of the twelfth century, formulates it in
ment
three
When
of
concept
secretary
had
He
rose
of the guard
a pen,
a wise
requested
came forth,
and
paper
man
of noble
birth
the
inkwell-and-pencase
of the scholar
[Bahr?m]
in front
placed
The
inkwell
is the
son,
[dav?t],
instrument
of gov
ernment
him that a pact offered
by
Telling
on this silk
be written
Must
Worthy
throne3
The
as will
of victory,
theme
be
and
literary
through
at a later
quotations
The use of the inkwell as an instrument
was
office
as were
caliphate
Nez?m
the
the
mak,
and
regalia
stage.
r
The
of ministerial
by
Islamic
the
insignia
tells
Sulaym?n
of Ja'far
actual
(in
came
who
ibn
of Ja'far
to
fact,
court
the
at
it was
of
al
Nez?m
ol-Molk
father of Caliph
Malik,
Sulaym?n),
describes the caliph welcoming Ja'far after a difficult start:
-*?>^ *\-rjl (J^tj* c?lj? j oJlijj Ojljj
jl t^r^j-5??y
He
him.
robe
[Jacfar]
By
unchanged.
tans,
times
verses;
read
references
Passing
in Persian
like
prose
an
of
historian
to
references
terse
the
century
the
several
was
seen
lines written
as
to
a
pages
the
vizier
Nas?r
??
usage
paper]
script6
that
suggest
of
to his
These
distinction.
ad-D?n
os-Samad
cAbd
arouse
in the
S
?l? pj? 3oIjj
^
\y?>
of
occasion,
the moment
From
some
accounts
it. His
that
an
you
The
Ferdows?'s
notes:
Beyhaq?
inkwell
the historian
an
royal
inkwell.
-*~*-jl cJJlii
[dav?t]
be
and
paraph
[towq?c]
the
yellow
been
faced
of jealousy
early
a minister,
black
became
opponents
pher Mohammad
it [the
in a beautiful
set
King
in front
for writing
inkwell-and-pencase
Out
In
adorned
the exalted
the
of
tughr?
by right
concludes:
He
^S\j\
j
sul
from
brought
with his
qalam,
remained
Cw<ljL> ?JjjJ <u(JIp Ja?*?. JlOjjlOlji
They
literature
mark
supreme
p?p! 3j~?- y J^
the Ghaznevid
abridgements
important
ordered
further,
o
dav?t
echo the jealousy that such a privilege would
political class (meter: mojta&$):
brought3
few
to
in the twelfth century by cAbd ol-Vasec Jabal?
well
prince
the pen7
of the inkwell by the Sultan
the formal devolution
vizier
Your
A
from
him
eleventh
in describing
The
its fame
denomination
''
and
Beyhaq?,
makes
the pen
y"j' J3^y ^j^-3
late
a
of
in the last line refers to the name dav?t-e
him.4
the
l?m by means
qalam, literally "the inkwell of the pen," which had already
don
b. Barmak]
the
Qacfar
an inkwell
in front of
placed
a few paraphs
in front of
executed
had
forthwith
ministerial
the
and borrow
pen
your
in a panegyric
CoJ>- c^pL-j.5 *jh
as
far
an
become
alternative
''
inkwell-and-pen(case).
Bar
'Abd
as
alef
The first hemistich
an
Barmak
the
ligature
. ,
its fame from
n took
r
inkwell
was named
after
Take
of power.
in his Political Treatise [Siy?sat-N?me].
arrival
Extend
in early
of Maleksh?h,
vizier
grand
supposed
of Caliph
father
Iran
Sasanian
Iranian
anecdote
Recounting
court
from
all
ol-Molk,
enlightening
the
over
taken
out of your
inkwell
^ to govern
?
;
.
to coin (the word)
dowlat out of
dav?t
you want
state
several
form
in pictorial
inkwells of the Islamic period
times
on
recurs
seen,
,Am
When
wild
S?ne
fortune
good
the crown
of
a S?vernment
it tame
With
and Victorious
is the Sh?h,
to the
and an ornament
that Bahr?m
[Saying]
the Iranians
and
hearted
like
ink
the
like the pen
envy,
however
far away
you8
fourteenth
century,
b. Hend?sh?h
wrote
a handbook
the
famous
Nakhjavan?,
on
lexicogra
who
government
had
and
administration
titled Dast?r al-K?tibfi TaPy?nal-Mar?tib, The
inDetermining [Public] Positions. Listing
Rule
Secretary/Scribe's
the insignia of office handed over to the grand vizier, he
71
V'
^>&j^j??;,?y?^^
1. Tahamuras from theJam? ot-Tav?rtkh, Iran, perhaps Tabriz,
courtesy of Edinburgh University
Library).
Fig.
early
14th century,
Edinburgh,
Library MS.
University
20, fol. 2v
OR
(photo:
mentions
hokm-e
the
"tenure
yarligh],
the
the
kh?ss],
"gold
"studded
The
of
the
executive
decree"
investiture
"special
inkwell-and-pencase"
belt"
[kamar-e
and
morasscf],
The
[Suy?rgh?l-e
robes"
[tashr?f-e
[dav?t-e
the
tala],
lesser
other
items.9
is part of the royal or princely costume
inkwell would have been yet another royal
studded belt
and the gold
item
of
by
virtue
color
par
excellence.
time,
at
differ
from
the
note
turned
when
in the early
of
reporting
from
where
did
not
drawn
in favor
Eskandar
B?g
usage
of a lower
ranking
or Chancellor
al-Mam?lek
or
Dav?td?r
state
??y ?i&>Ji oi.j.5.
cJU
t\Jbj\vj
epw ^>>
J*
?^ W
teenth
until
then to hand
customary
was
over
to him10
handed
Chancellors,
over
on
the
been
historian
notes
further
of
that
inkwell-and-pencase
sonal
we
dedicatory
will
tion
see,
on
record
royal
descent
other
authority
72
assigned
as
account
might
on
inscriptions
probable
"state
concerns
an
and
those
him
[be
-?
absence
ekhtes?s
The
the
the Mongol
of
per
that qualify,
pieces
character
to mount
during
the
inkwells."
unusual
attempted
collapsed
for
except
who
or "Master
the anonymous
in the
ad-D?n's
the
Compendium
in Tabriz,
atelier
royal
that
one
tradition.
is, to the
right
viewer.
At
the
the Armories"
a bow
under
his
involving
The
of Tahmuras,
facing
Ira
in the early four
completed
to Iranian
left,
of
and
identity.12
out
inkwell-and-pencase.13
according
at
Amir
in charge
(fig. 1) of a court scene
presence
is shown
The
inkwell-and-pencases
in
imperial
a stool
to bear
of Rash?d
perhaps
Iran
been
again,
user's
as
early
of
episode
the
The
of
kings
is
vizier
the enthroned
the M?r-e
right,
holds
an
arrow
arm
in
the
pointed
attitude
of
deferential
chancellor's
of the symbol of power from one
transmission
to another
minister
to
of
have
inkwells.11
was,
their
seem
manuscript
in the
downwards
to the
of
imperial
as
to
appears
Inkwells"
(or World History)
the
on
Sel?h
in 1006/1597-98,
his brother, M?rza
cAl?, was
to
him
"and
the
aforesaid
studded
replace
appointed
y?ft\." The
would
place
ruler
death
was
the
painting
century,
seated
The
of
regardless
A
of ancient
not
inkwells
preserved
or ministerial
inkwells
world.
takes
rose
to an
Sh?h
cAl? Dowlat?b?d?
Esfahan?
Aq?
studded
exalted
The
inkwell-and
position.
gold
tal?-e morassac] which
it had
pencase
[dav?t-e qalam-e
Iranian
were
includes an illustration
*j
^W^1
even
identification,
all
distinction
royal
of even
character
the use
jT l;S
no
"Master
ofHistories
terms:
British
on
be yet another
might
nominal
inkwells
times:
between
nian
of the
of
titulature
state
all
Book
established
absence
anonymous
Ghaznevid
latter
the
significant in this respect is
the institution of the Dav?tkh?ne, the "House of Inkwells"
another
yet
by
the famous
century
modern
Exchequer?in
expressed
surprise
a deviation
the Mostowf?
minister,
any
that
the
inkwell" could be indiscrimi
one to be discussed below. Most
of all
historian,
seventeenth
for
and
that
inkwell-and-pencase,
reason
at
metal
royal
indicate
inkwell-and-pencase
imperial
the
minister
to
to him.
being delegated
Hence
the
gold,
seem
would
the ministerial
least,
Monsh?,
its material,
This
fact that the "state
nately used by king and minister
only
who
throne
as
fashion
free-born
which
other
design
is
what
design
A
claimed
of
pencase,
excep
when
invasion.
that becomes
his rank.14 Kneeling
waiting
a
the
vizier's
Turkish prince
side,
young
respectfully by
with
hair
his
in the
down
shoulders
(amir)
plaited
falling
Turks
identifies
an
than
clearly
an
enthroned
crown
up
as
him
abstract
an
the Am?r-e
scrolling
imperial
inkwell-and
open
No
Dav?td?r.
motif
on
appears
This
inkwell-and-pencase.
is repeated on the side of the imperial throne.
second
ruler
suspended
in
miniature
in
inkwell-and-pencase
all
holds
holding
by
chains
a
the
manuscript
similar
court,
over
that
context,
as
the
shown
throne.15
an
depicts
by
the
Here,
of
an
heavy
too,
on
the pattern
the
on
traced
inkwell-and-pencase,
the
inner
face of the lid, ismatched on imperial furnishings, this time
on the brocaded bands stitched across the drapery of the
canopy
overhanging
that
third
other
regalia.
one
court,
scene
them scribbling,
some
literary
not high-ranking
state
of a scene
was
occasion,
men
five
of
of
is perhaps
are
They
which
is shown
as
open
without
outlined
in
the
Iran
The
on
acquired
at
used
court.
an
ing
inkwell-and-pencase
survived.
This
existence
both
three
inkwells
en suite
centuries
inkwell-and-pencases,
itly call
them
paraphs
signed
have
been
as a
from
be
New
to the
inkwells
are
in
typical
to
assumed
have
now
of Khorasan
portions
sources
prolonging
of
shape
example
geometrical
the
Hindustani
in
in The
in a
1985
This
Walters
auction
master.
the
three
signed
that
rotating
Art
device
the
formed
sides
of
to the
of
stalks
a square
theme
of
with
Gallery.19
image
celestial
in the Persian
"the
literary
as
catalogue
"a
(fig. 2).20
extrem
curving
illustrates
as
such
inkwell [dav?t], twelfth-century"
in reference
standard
metalwork,
caskets
fourteenth-century
preserved
illustrated
of
sets
fies
the
rotating
repertory
idea
of
dome."
signi
sphere.21
explic
that
refer
and
that
suggests
like
with
these
themes,
themes known
royal
inscribed with
be
may
a reasonable
with
but
pieces,
the court.
from
and occasionally
echo
they might
the previous
emanating
inkwells"
"state
for
same
master
another
inkwells decorated
lines
has
important,
the
the
was
Another
A
name,
inscriptions
en suite
not
royal panegyrics,
Arabic
less
by
carrying
to one
commission
Other
The
to the royal
note
from their ink (see
49). Again their
executed,
single
signed
inkwells"
"state
resemblance
close
rare
the
rotation
no
another
later,
all
archaeologi
to belong
Two
market.
eastern
the
parts
and Uzbek
eleventh-century
therefore
may
Khorasani
includ
evidence
physical
and,
and
to his
the
anticipates
ities
the
provides
state
of
made
objects
Some
set
art
Kabul
divided
northern
proper
considered
to
of Art.
now
hazardous.18
dating
tenth-
and
in
light
Persian bronze
for a vizier,
inscribed
fully
some
in
is possible
en suite
made
the
style
to
with
identification
set of
objects
A
instances.
Inkwells
Positive
precise
some
its
or
of
Afghanistan,
possibly the districts of Herat and Maymana.
One of these, published by the author in an article dealing
of the Objects:
gone this far, one might wonder what hope is
identifying "state inkwells," including those
Having
left of ever
as
come
Khorasan
the Tower-shaped
any
Iran
with
stratigraphy
object
metropolis
of Turkmenistan
York piece must be broadly
Samanid age (ca. 819-1004).
come
of
makes
data
of eastern
Afghanistan,
of any
lack
top. The
Museum
Metropolitan
province
lying in the Soviet Republics
istan.)
the flat
the westernmost
in The
large
and
on
opening
is now
is the
Next
tion.
The Evidence
circular
and
(Khorasan
pre
decora
any
Khorasan
cal
the inner face of the
and
the central
between
left
two
letters,
(mon?zere).
disputation
dignitaries,
is merely
miniature,
that the
in a debate which
or
inkwell-and-pencase,
vious
shows
engaged
contest
a
not
en
made
significant
in the context
depicted
was
that
The
undecorated.16
imperial
were
into
came to light in Neysh?b?r,
seem
therefore
use
It is perhaps
inkwell-and-pencase
but
It would
for
inkwell-and-pencases
suite with
at
throne.
the
painted in luster formally identify the structure as Chris
lid would have been the dome fitted
tian.17 The missing
characterized
measure
of probabil
ity.
Three
the
basic
inkwell
the
ages:
the elongated
isolated
box
from
the
inkwell
for
version
portable
of
its long slender body broadening
pencase,
extremity
reserved
for
at one
reed
pens
end
a
by
inkwell-and
the
slightly up to the
inkwell
the minute
through
monument;
compartment
compartment
long
the
and,
partition;
arched
the
a miniature
as
designed
with
use
in constant
remained
types
compart
ment.
The
is given
ably
by
shaped
mented
an
four
clue to the fundamental
the first,
as
specimen
Eastern
apses
type
symbolism
or architectural,
a domed
is a
monument.
luster-painted
of Christian
in the middle
type,
of each
shrine
side;
of the inkwell
which
is invari
The
earliest
inkwell
in the
with
large
square
botonn?
docu
form
plan
of
and
crosses
Cast Bronze with Engraved
Fig. 2. Inkwell-and-Pencase, Iran, Khorasan,
10th or 11th century, Formerly, Tehran, Haj Farman Col
lection (all photos courtesy of the author except where noted).
Decoration,
73
The
cosmic
an inkwell echoes
theme associated with
the theme of the divine
decree
It is
that rules the world.
on celestial
tablets by the archangels dipping their
pens in the ink of eternity, a concept echoed in this opening
verse of the "S?ra of the Pen" (Kor. LXVIII,
I):
written
the pen
N?By
ruled
[qalam]
and
by what
on
trace
they
lines
If intended for a judge [qad?] or a teacher [mu callim]
of the cosmos easily fits with the hyperbolic
the judge whose edicts hold sway
eulogies celebrating
the evocation
the
throughout
it.22 At
enlightens
or
world,
the
same
the
whose
teacher
cosmic
the
time,
wisdom
of
symbolism
the inkwell iswell suited to the state inkwell, royal or minis
terial.
to
references
explicit
Very
the
or ministerial
royal
inkwell as a symbol of the world are indeed found
sian
Kam?l
literature.
third of
the first
occasion
the thirteenth
in Persian
"fragment,"
the
Esfah?n?,
short
in Per
composed
a
for
poem
in
active
poet
century,
or
qafe,
famous
this
special
(meter: Hazqj):
Fig.
??UlC^jy
<?\j\ t-j>- ?jai 3jX>
?~Mji
j^ilij vLLjI-V~-y
3. State Inkwell,
per, early
Iran, Khorasan,
13th century,
Baltimore,
Bronze
Inlaid with
The Walters
Silver
Art Gallery,
and Cop
no. 54.514.
of whom
the Blue Dome
has become
Excellency
of the servants,
full of flattery
One
come
Now
has merrily
the celebration
when
O
the
sound
of your
of the celestial
will
Many
days
makes
From
by
until
[the succession
inkwell
ebony
Vizierial
The
go
cymbals
vault
function,
of]
its eyes
the ceiling
pierces
the
vault
of
day
and
night
cast down,
heaven
your
its hands
crossed
Waits
A
new
in hope
of kissing
vizier?unnamed?is
your
hand23
about
to be
appointed,
the image of the vizirate [vezar?t] as a person in the
traditional Eastern attitude of deferential waiting, hoping
to kiss his hand. Loud celebrations
[nowbat] with cymbal
hence
are going on but it will be a long time before the
inkwell is completed: we find an echo to the length
playing
vizier's
of time required in the dating formula of an inkwell made
for a vizier "in the months of the year 607" (see below).
The ebony inkwell mentioned
in the poem by Kam?l
Esfah?n? was probably inlaid with ivory, a combination
suggested by the image of "day and night," that is, light
ness
and
from
blackness,
which
the
inkwell
is made.24
all, the image indicates that the object is seen as
in other
the succession of day and night,
symbolizing
Above
words,
74
the
rotation
of
the celestial
sphere.
Fig. 4. Detail
tichs.
of Figure
3, top view of lid showing
the three Arab
dis
It is precisely this theme which
is expressed on a
remarkable inkwell of architectural shape in The Walters
Art Gallery
(figs. 3-6). The object has been known to
scholars since Richard Ettinghausen
first mentioned
it
as
in
1943
"one
of
several
made
craftsmen
pieces
by
briefly
names
whose
indicate
the
Actually
that
signature
from
hailed
they
in silver-inlaid
written
Herat."25
Kufic
letter
ing on the low flaring sides of the lid proves nothing of the
kind per se, but the style of decoration and the wording of a
are
or
duc?
long
invocation
consistent
indeed
The
with
of
those
is the most
model
God's
calling
on
graces
the Khorasan
school.
seen
commonly
owner
the
in Khorasan
in
the second half of the twelfth century and the opening years
of the thirteenth. The deep well with flat base and walls
tapering slightly is cut off by a flat ribbed
rib,
by a lid (fig. 4) edged by a matching
sides, a flat shoulder and a cusped dome
lotus petals. The lid is thus shown to be
in Persian
dome,"
phor
referring
the
around
Fig.
5. Detail
of Figure
''
3, signature
of'"Muhammad
b. Abu Saht theHerat
Painter/designer.
n?l?far?,
gonbad-e
to the
a
base,
silver-inlaid
and
"might
as
long
cursive
script,
triumph,"
"sun
"might
moon
and
and
with
victory
To
poem
wishes
the
work
from
rather
many
signed. The
not
The
God's
as
eternity"
as morn
long
our
of
and
on
to
all
But
the
is invariably
fourteenth-century
it would
knowledge,
limited.
and
indeed,
. . ."
felicity
"vizierial,"
been
and,
likely
its owner,
state
signature
work
signature
more
However,
for a ruler
suitable
equally
F?rs.26
Persian,
on
used
The
"as
owner
be
as
the more
in
unwise,
it as
characterize
the distinc
a "state
inkwell"
it
example
is
is.
undoubtedly
Like
be
titulatures
than
have
tion may
pieces
and
to
sj^ U
royal
state
present
Arabic,
unnamed
cosmos:
seems
"To
with
"royal"
the
could
former
beginning
metal
the
access
and spiritual
felicity
integrity
as long as the dove coos
life
long
The
associated
script.
sun,
its holder,
These
a vizier.
of
that
And
a brief du' ? inKufic
running
the
*UJI>JJI ?il (b
m%JIj SiUJI v*W
be ever yours
As long as sun and moon
rise
access
to
be ever yours
and
eternity
might
As long as morn
and night
each other
succeed
May
with
of
thus linking the themes of might
?LIlj ?r*i\
'*A\jh
Co-U 1.^1 J>j
and triumph
might
May
3, underside
strip
stylization
wish
and
rise"
night succeed each other,"
of Figure
meta
standard
raised
signifying that the dome of heaven is filled with sunlight.
Three Arabic distichs, written on the shoulder (fig. 4)
in a
Fig. 6. Detail
is a
line
zigzag
six shaped
the "blue lotus
with
another
a narrow
sky. On
rim. It is topped
low flaring
with
formal
inkwells
as
Baltimore
seems
to have
been
the
case
for
calls
for
occasions:
of Muhammad
follows
the
on the side of the lid (fig. 5) is in
an
b. Ab?
invocation
Sahl
al Haraw?
or duc?,
which
graces:
75
With
divine
bliss,
down
Halfway
grace,
integrity,
spiritual
the
a
body,
silver-inlaid Kufic
fortune
good
[da?t>/o]/joy,
piety
is an expanded
lettering
same
in the
invocation
second
variant of the
first one (fig. 3):
With
divine
bliss,
itual
grace,
fortune,
good
felicity,
divine
spir
plenitude,
immunity,
spiritual
integrity,
owner
favor, God's
gift to its
the inner face of the lid (fig. 6), a third invocation offers
On
yet
another
the
same
variant
as
order
the first
with
wishes
three
in
appearing
two:
in the previous
/JIjmL/JI^/^JIj/^jJIj/^JI/^o?!^
With
The wishes
ent
grace/good
knowledge & and
Khorasan
at
Islamic
teaching
political
power.
that
metal
vessels
notions
to
unrelated
of
from
linked
social
that
inscriptions
with
and
position
celebrat
poems
the dome of heaven
as "state
them
carry
include
that
ing glory and triumph under
inkwells
[duc?] are no differ
other
convey
They
are
. _
A-L
Fig.
sets
While
time.27
that
on
occur
that might
.
...
ple/nitude
/ R.
..
j/oy
in these prayers
expressed
those
from
the
fortune/
bliss/divine
esoteric
identify
Alloy Inlaid with Silver,
Quaternary
Es-Said Collection
(photo: courtesy of the
7. State Inkwell, Iran, Khorasan,
early
Nuhad
13th century, The Nuhad
Es-Said Collection).
the minia
inkwells,"
ad-D?n's Compendium of
Histories suggest that some state inkwells had no inscription
tures in the manuscript
at
all.
now
these
Can
of Rash?d
be
is no
There
recognized?
of
hope
ever going beyond pure supposition with regard to inkwells
scenes
figurative
ornament.
formal
with
decorated
other
the
hand,
their only
inkwells find
a destination.
in such
explanation
satisfactory
the
On
found on some
royal symbolism is provided by an
inkwell of the early thirteenth century in the Nuhad es-Said
collection (fig. 7).28 On the rim of the lid, seated revelers
A case of obvious
are
seen
in hand.
goblet
sian bazm, which
sides
the
ing. On
in single
of
other.
These
illustrate
gether
"feasting
often
linked
countless
Excelling
literature,
and
in
distichs.
holding
"fighting,"
bazm
fighting,"
that
drinking
They
the
royal
in them is the distinctive
starting
with
in hand
the
play
engaged
or
a
raising
a round shield in the
in Persian
razm.
o razm?the
words
par
pastimes
mark
Sh?h-N?me.
To
are
in
associated
phrase?are
rhyming
are
and music
horsemen
spear
charging,
sword with one hand while
in Per
"feasting,"
confronted
the well,
are
combat
illustrate
They
included wine
excellence.
of kings
In
singing
in epic
the
they have just
praise of his future son whose horoscope
tell
the
Zoroastrian
established,
priests [mobad] Man?chehr,
king of Iran:
Fig.
76
7b. Detail
of Figure
7, lid.
razm-o
Be
be bazm-esh
In fighting
and
ham?l
nab?shad
he
feasting
shall
no match29
have
in each of the three fighting scenes
The
flank a roundel enclosing a second royal image. This is a
two horsemen
cross-legged
cally "[raised]
arms
a
on
seated
figure
to clutch
takht?etymologi
the viewer
platform"?facing
extended
or
throne
on
its poles
either
with
both
The
poles
side.
are topped by the snarling heads of dragons which are a
symbol of impetuous courage often associated with kings in
Persian
literature.30
The
other
supremacy
in
the
lower
of royal
The
symbolism.
and
upper
the theme
friezes
winged
the
represent
created beings" (cAj? cib al-makhl?q?t), to use
title given to cosmological treatises dealing with
"wonderful
the generic
the
cosmic
their
through
quadrupeds
tie in with
images
remarkable
of
aspects
the world
of
creatures.31
living
Such animals often appear in a context illustrating the king
as the hunter whose hunting field is the world, a traditional
The
evocation.
literary
seated
silver on the eight
with
illustrate
"the
feast
of
and
engraved
lobes of the domed
when
inlaid
lid (fig. 7b)
in Persian
heaven,"
to rulers
in panegyrics
sung
revelers
bazm-e
falak,
as
them
celebrating
kings
Indeed, it is the opening theme of a panegyric
written by Kam?l Esfah?n? in praise of an unnamed ruler
and his royal inkwell (meter: ramal):
of the world.
l^U- jljly
?Xjy >j*j
O
oU-jly ?llT OpL
Ol>>
U Jl?*???
in whose
you
?L, ?\
?j>. fj jiy" JU
LoJj' Jj' J*.
^
U^^
W*ljjl j>.?y
y p4- j' *y?^ ^
about the time the Nuhad
^y
made
in the
memory,
people's
Fig. 8. Fragment of a Lid of a State Inkwell, Iran, Khorasan,
Quarternary
The Walters
Alloy (?) Inlaid with Silver, early 13th century, Baltimore,
Art Gallery, no. 54.515.
(meter:
of
feast
?l? <C~J*5ij?~MJv? OU}jj jl
a cup.
many
quaffed
shaft of your pen, out of the well
for
forth things desired
Brings
of] one's wishes.
Venus
To
Becomes
As
of the
inkwell,
Esfah?n?'s
royal
"the
combats
rious)
by
the
with
on
on
of
poet
to
the
the
that
pen
makes
smallest
the
royal
the
power
great
emblems
Nuhad
state
those
on
two
the
coming
panegyrist
of
the
from
heaven.
last Seljuk
lion
heavenly
them
for
inkwells
is of great
century,
interest
of
iconography
royal
to have
use.
some
ink
other
been
similarly
the
these,
Among
also of the early thirteenth
although
the
Only
fragmentary.
(victo
made
base
to
the
realm"
religious
is a
inkwell
for
royal
to
related
"state
piece was
es-Said
Afi?r
rulers
state
the
shows
reference
ink
es-Said
this
use.
royal
The
down
seeks
the king's
inkwells
it are
the
may
lid of an inkwell from Khor?s?n,
three roundels on the lid (fig. 7b), which
the image of a bird pouncing on its prey, symbolize
destination.
enclose
of
the
of
analysis
as
intended
shrines
that
fields,
ambition
lower part of the lid, now in The Walters Art Gallery,
is
was
at
circled
the
preserved (fig. 8).34 The missing dome
The
"gives
it clear
one
certainly
Even
and
lid,
close
of the period
wells
associates
the well.
inkwell" used by a king. The
almost
A
so fearful
to the royal edict establishing
its allusion
foundations,
sides
the
sown
limbs
of javelins,
panegyric
of heaven"
feast
of
of your
[Aquila]
[Leo] be its feed33
key themes that are illustrated on the Nuhad
well:
hawk
Out
are given
every moment,
of your pen.32
by the running
Shrines
the royal
its prey
fulfillment
[the
are.
the realm
Kam?l
their
the heads
[like]
you
To
on
the hair
enemies,
your
inkwell would have been
mo'z?re):
heaven,
The
es-Said
of
Akhs?kai?,
Iran,
wrote
a
by
of
string
silver-inlaid
(fig. 9), which would
well
was
a disc
opened,
silver-inlaid
overcome
kings
On
is engraved
version
early
such monsters
back
have
Iran
was
veyed
Bahr?m
meant
been
of
in visual
G?r
terms:
of our
here.
Whichever
is a
traditional
this
intended,
the
time,"
a
underside
the
ruler
or "the
is often
second
the ink
single
to strike
large
a
down
Several
dragon.
in the Sh?h-N?me.
ogy of later inkwells (fig. 23) suggests
may
the
with
turns
horseman
an
monster,
winged
A
figure.
beads.
have been visible only when
anal
The
that Bahr?m G?r
of
king
royal
ancient
con
eulogy
celebrated
as
"the
Alexander."35
77
royal image on the underside of the lid (fig. 9) is
enclosed within a lotus chalice which echoes the theme of
The
the "blue
lotus dome"
is the king
king
a
to use
heights,"
the world,
the viewer
"the
This
poetry.
in a panegyric
example,
that the
ruler of celestial
in early
found
metaphor
for
occurs,
phrase
and reminds
of
in
alternately
Arabic
and Persian by the great poet from Sh?rvan, Moj?r
Beylaq?n?, where it is similarly linked with comparisons of
the king to the kings of ancient Iran:
W Of.
ruler
O
of celestial
meanings,
You have
heights
among
the beautiful
of
ones
and
Bahman
Far?dun
in this kingdom
but
quality,
of
tion
inkwell:
the
no means
that by
the
out
the
the
destina
auction
it is almost
a
at
sold
recently
or
royal
inkwell.
princely
It
the type when
its decoration had reached its
in Iran.37 Only the well sur
of
complexity
highest degree
vives, stripped of most of its original silver inlay over which
illustrates
the finer detail was
is also
as
i i~dl
ures
destiny,
spir/itual
to its owner
immunity,
the
prolong
their
legs,
presents
inscription
and
some
letters,
animal
as on
heads
letters, exactly
of Art.39 The
Museum
of
feature.
the
the footed bowl
Standing
some
fig
as
serving
of
the
in The
third
and
a reveller,
in hand;
goblet
two
Cleveland
in one
hand
panel (fig. 11) depicts
turns
78
his
back
on
a
and
a
goblet
the harp,
plucking
characters
in the other.
stoles
holding
while holding up some object; and a cupbearer
decanter
releases
horseman
horseman
clutching a
The
second
the return from the hunt. One man
seated
hare,
two
others
flank
them.
nevertheless
on
first,
Ahead
the
be
viewer's
a
small
tail at which a
of
as
in hand,
spear
the
if to
a
latter,
transfix
the
the
onager?which
in the next panel (fig. 11) is about to
of him, a horseman threatens with his
raised on its knotted
a
brandishing
In
himself.
is a
script"
can
the
arrow.
animal?perhaps
horseman
horseman,
are now
clasps which
"inhabited
In
links
over
drinkers
rushes on, throwing his lasso
charges with sword and shield
his
on,
gallops
long-tailed
turns
the
third
tail against which
sword
a
and
panel,
as
again
the
to
tries
shield,
seen
on
the
the next
a
huge
horseman
to
back
aims
a
seize
his
leaping
shot.
The
last horseman
creature
onagerlike
the
by
neck.
If the onager
shorter
first panel (fig. 10) illustrates feast
Eastern reading order from
the Middle
ing. Following
right to left, the panel depicts: a woman
Serving
which
panels.
as
right (fig. 12), yet another horseman with sword
and shield rushes at a dragon standing on its knotted tail at
last
stalks
long
terminate
panels
a cup
again,
raised, ready to strike a dragon with knotted
which
a rare
shoulder,
viewer's
divine
fortune,
to eternity
g/ood
access
here,
addorsed
of
of
horsemen
distinct
next
favorable
one
right (fig. 10), a horseman
[kamand] ; the next horseman
defend
ingly
of
spear a dragon
i-/ U>1 W
The
frieze
y "?3/all j JLftlj >ll
characteristic:38
Might,
favor
three
three
left;
of
couples
faces
these
preceding
strike down. Ahead
in typical Khorasan
worded
the
by
decanter.
plate of the hinged
In the upper border, a duc? is
fashion. The splitting of words
incised.
other
and
right
a
are
the cupbearer
continuous
seen
on
clutching
panels
Below
to the early thirteenth
datable
certainly
was
scenes
bazm]
10-13). Also
(figs.
century,
o
[razm
the
missing:
cor
remotest
still be celebrated as kings of the world.
A third inkwell from Khorasan decorated with "fight
feasting"
each
clasp
goes
seen
is
each attachment
ners of Iran would
ing and
men
Drinking
bearer
between
the royal
in
rulers
pettiest
are
you
figure is not of the high
rules
other
probably
by a big bird. The third panel (fig. 12) shows two
fighting with swords raised and shields held up in the
request
of the world.36
The design of the silver-inlaid
slaying
a horseman,
showing
watched
men
of Far?dun,
memorial
est
two
duck,
like a
center.
of
8, underside
a dragon.
[esoteric]
wine,
For
of Figure
Fig. 9. Detail
Bahr?m G?r,
no night.
like Bahman
that knows
the kingdom
?~&*j>
j
o discloser
risen
moon
In
^
'> L?*
ciation with
is correctly
the dragon
identified,
asso
its recurring
that Bahr?m G?r's
feats
are intended. Certainly
suggests
there is little doubt
that whichever
character
scenes
heroic
is meant,
the
the kings of ancient
chalice,
round
standing
of
three
Iran. On
for
panels
the
of
illustrate
the
the underside
"blue
animals,
feats
of
(fig. 13) a lotus
lotus
dome,"
frames
lions,
gazelles,
and,
a
per
haps, onagers: the world is the king's hunting field. In the
middle is the typical Khorasan motif of three hares turning
clockwise,
their
ears
interconnecting
and
overlapping.
Fig.
10. Fragmentary State Inkwell,
Formerly
1986.
Inlaid with
Silver,
Fig.
Iran, Khorasan,
early
12. Another
13th century,
Alloy
Quaternary
sold at Sotheby's,
April
view of Figure
Fig.
11. Another
view of Figure
10.
Fig.
13. Another
view of Figure
10.
10.
79
Fig.
14. State Inkwell, Western
Sotheby's,
late 13th/early
Iran,
sold at
14th century,
Fig.
15. Another
view of Figure
14.
1985.
April
By the later thirteenth century, the celebration of royal
triumph on inkwells tended to associate the image with the
literary
of
expression
the
idea.
is
Such
case
the
an
on
on the
extraordinary object (figs. 14-16) which appeared
in 1985.40 The piece, tiny yet monumental
market
in the form of a tomb tower. It calls to mind
is
aspect,
of
proportions
Isfahan
the
as
known
early
the Em?mz?de
to
attached
now
tower
the
of
and
Jacfar
the mauso
at Bast?m.41 The
misses
in
mausoleum
fourteenth-century
leum built by Solt?n Olj?yt?
in
the
its
lid.
It
cylinder
as
served
a
pencase.
The
celestial
reflected
symbolism
in the decoration.
On
of
the object
the
shoulder,
is discreetly
blos
six-petal
soms inlaid with gold separate three calligraphic panels. On
the sides of the lid, similar blossoms break up the figurative
friezes
tion
into
three
of "the
yellow
a
falak,
cartouches.
flower
metaphor
in
arranged
the
designating
rows
staggered
the presence
of
the
as
are
a
offer
of heaven,"
inkwell lid, are a mystical
fore
These
faithful
in Persian
sun.42
rendi
zard-e
gol-e
suns,
Multiple
sun
the
% %kJ\
on
flowers
the
theme in Persian Sufism. There
sun
on
flowers
lid
the
a
introduces
special nuance into the celestial symbolism of the object.
Below "the dome of heaven," represented by the bulb
of
the
a round
lid,
of
another
80
animals
in
are
two
in a
shown
groups
illustrates
in other words,
derful created beings,"
The
animals
running
of
three,
single
and
life in this world.
band,
one
?
the "won
following
of
two,
over
one
the
Fig.
16. Another
view of Figure
14.
large
do
scene
fighting
over
the
below.
revetment
moulded
scenes
the flat
[lagan] datable
over
at Takht-e
the
of a Mongol
base
that
Sh?h-N?me
at Takht-e
the world
that
The
is clearly the work of a highly
composition
or
painter-designer
the
unrolled,
the
abstract
naqq?sh.
from
scrolling
the
ground,
to
the
two
the
on
the
the
inkwell
the
frame,
over
flying
raised
sword
the
no
(fig.
obvious
clues
of a well-known
turns
who
is an
This
are
episode:
to
third
horseman
him
strike
Persian
In
epics.46
late
of
of
the
two
carries
state
lines
inkwell.
in the
to
cursive
the
that
all
as naskh?,
has
not
been
is inlaid
and
the
a
within
from
your
the
all,
the
exact
hemistich
the
ink from
them
to their
version
(the
shams,
tury
(meter:
shamse of your
gilt
nates
shoulder
with
On
the
gold,
twelve
seen
by
hemistich
ih^
of might
and favors?
and generosity.
liberality
line
the
not
calls the piece "the inkwell of might
of
"a
literally,
most
is
refer
explicit
The
illumi
to the
of
the
twelve
skies
and Albert Museum
are
rosettes
the
century,
in reference
in each
zodiacal
of heaven
(clouds
are
reflects,
in almost
what
is made
the
associated
form,
pictogramic
is
twelve
of the inkwell as
with
the
decoration
spring
thus still
the
celestial
of the object inherent in its
has
inkwell-and-pencase
up
sun
to the
corresponding
literature). The
repeated
theme?the
bands hint at the symbolism
signs. Cloud
But
that
for by
the
texts
are
texts,
as
lost
is usual
in visual
at
that
period.
restore
help
scan).
as a unit
rosettdshamsa
is the sun
mehr?b
in the Victoria
sixteenth
times
explicitness
from a panegyric:
eventually
does
seen
the
The
its deri
the world50
the inkwell
to
dated
inkwell
second
shamse.
ramal):
faintly
quoted
on
ence opens a panegyric to the Injuid prince Jal?l ad-D?n
Sh?h by Khw?ju Kerman? in the fourteenth cen
Masc?d
and therefore cosmic symbolism
should
type
flowers
"sun,"
of
verses.49
?y^b M
source
The
Grammatically,
be
symbolism
countless
by
"sun."
shams,
<Lod jl
(*aJ!3 j*J! ?lj.5
lines are probably
These
tracing
open
all
10-13),
tower.
in Persian,
rosette,
quantity
Above
established
a
it was
read:47
you
(figs.
six-petal
in Arabic?can
indeterminate
shape.
Make
thirteenth
of the shamse is implied by
pronounced
time sky in Persian
When
as
represented
Arabic
the
shamsa?as
the dome
f/ o* ?^
above
of a domed
polylobed
solar symbolism
inkwell
the
second
horizontally
late
the
has been misunderstood
translator
the
retains
a pen
in
suggest
on
suns
multiple
vation
Iran
as
Iranian
strongly
and
in Athens,
Iranian
version
calligraphed
known
anonymous
seen
be
Iranian
the western
latter,
royal color. The first hemistich
Sotheby's
the western
in the Victoria
now
Like
version
signed
from early Safavid book painting, and these
are indeed datable within the reign of Sh?h Isma c?l (1502
7).
inscription,
script
offer
The
(fig.
in Arabic
The
in western
made
may
eastern
the
collection
contrast
In
and
inkwell,"
to
date
es-Said
inkwell
a small-size
all
originally welded
inkwell.
is pro
reading
Yazd?.48 The object
preserved
inkwell discussed
royal
power.
seizing
One,
..."
is well known
sun."
They
fighters.
illustrates
century,
"state
later
three
The
charac
the
two
of
in London.
you
make
inkwell-and-pencases
tower-shaped
century
a
to
prepares
in which
of princely
this
short,
the
the
scene
costume
thirteenth
to
blossoms
his
with
is one
Museum
a
the gold headdress [zarrln kol?h] of kings and princes.
Their horses have gold trappings as do those of heroes in
Nuhad
favors?then
of this double
remarkable
here
reproduced
The
14), spear in hand,
(fig.
war
archetypal
in the
shown
version
three
by
first
"when
the inkwell sold in 1985 are stylized here as tiny six-petal
wear
dant
and
of a ruler
be meant
only
to mean:
''
1524).
Varqe
that would
literary
back
a
as
15),
they
in many
As
shoot his bolt at him (fig. 16).
in the
vided
related to definite episodes,
in full gallop pursues
horseman
to which
preserved.45
yields
identification
second
ters
of might
the double barreled pencase
figures
upper
birds
romance
the
scenes supposedly
and Golsh?h
warrior
of
are
and Golsh?h,
Varqe
scene
text
the
and
miniatures
permit
inkwell
The
quasi-certainty.
understood
A posteriori confirmation
Albert
when
the monumental
lower
even
skilled
format
elongated
to
given
proportion
space
The
fighters find close parallels in the only surviving Persian
manuscript of the thirteenth century in which a full cycle of
the
be
by the same designer, M?rak Hoseyn-e
participants.
relate,
the
into
hypothesis
alternatively
can
use. The
for a ruler's
double
''
''
''
to open
to conquer,
and
intended
the Arahicfataha,
the
conquer
which
is the stage set for the royal feats depicted below. These are
illustrated on the inkwell by a single large scene with three
filling
of
can
line
was
inkwell
transforms
"wonderful
Soleym?n,
the
meaning
bronze
period
The
1300-1310.44
on
depicted
palace
appear
circa
in the palace
and
the Mongol
royal or vizierial perogatives. Linked with
the royal iconography, these lines make it highly probable
the fundamental
they
signify on the inkwell, as they do on the
created beings"
basin
in
as
precisely
are
which
likewise
on
engraved
basin
tiles
Animals
Soleym?n.43
appear
They
scenes
Sh?h-N?me
first
and favors,"
Four
separate
poetic
calligraphed
in admira
ble NaqstaclTq script. On the lid, two Persian distichs iden
tify the object as a "state inkwell" (dav?t-e dowlat) used for
writing
"royal paraphs"
(towqf-e solt?ni) (meter: hazaj):
81
AtTi^i
the top of the state
laid in front
Having
Undo
v-^^'^^o*---*
inkwell
of you the tip of your pen
as the inkwell
the enemy
blackhearted
That
the affairs of the world may
be resolved
And
Like fataha
in the Arabic
its Persian
poem above,
its multiple meanings,
in
gosh?dan is used with
equivalent
the
cb
ul^jlTl;
Persian
"to
poem,
to defeat"
conquer,
in
open"
in the
third
the
first
and
hemistich,
"to
hemistich,
"to
resolve,
to unravel"
in the fourth line (the latter meaning does not
exist inArabic forfataha). The theme of cosmic supremacy
is discreetly but unmistakably
introduced in the line about
"the
unraveling
affairs
of
the world."
The
theme
of
royal
victory is struck up here as it is in Ferdows?'s line quoted at
the beginning, on The Walters Art Gallery inkwell (figs. 3
6) and on the western
Iranian
inkwell of the thirteenth
century (figs. 14-16).
Halfway down the body (?g. 17), a single Persian
is broken
ered
he be endowed
"the
with
one
reading
of
the
make
sense
saf?dat
qar?n
line
if consid
bad,
"may
and the second one dowlat
felicity,"
companion
a hemistich
which
panels
the first
separately,
rafiq,
two
into
up
state."
Together,
read
they
as
(mesraf) on the meter moteq?reb:
J?
vlJji / il? O?} ^
the companion
May
of
the
state
be
endowed
probably executed
The
1600:
around
jjj
esoteric
character
Eskandar?.bx
N?me-ye
on
the
the master
The
omission
stands
on
dowlat
means
ment,"
the
the
with
inkwell,
latter
the
changes
fortune"
"good
meaning:
and
the bottom
He
Saying,
earth
understood,
(dowlat) would
be
too close
to
For
of
royal
out
paraphs
this
of
noun,
earth"
The
Eskandar,
of Darkness
82
second
yield
Water
of
towards
Life
to the Water
guided by the prophet Khezr,
the end
of his
quest
the words
of
The
to
attributed
out
of
its
of Life which
found in the Land
through
the world.
Great,
on
the multiple
word
a
sav?d,
as
which
interpretations
covered
area
with
fertile
of present-day
as "page
"literacy."
hence
"blackness,"
means
etymologically
territory
the Saw?d
extension,
by
means
black
Iraq.
blackened
with
a Persian
Siyah?,
"black
ink."
two lines on the inkwell through their indirect but
unmistakable
Eskandar,
0\ >\y*j* jl *T
?-r ^L-
also be understood
literally
world
line refers
echo
Af
play
loan
such
and,
The
inkwell-and-pencase
it constantly
May
blackness/ink
verses
hence
blackness,
ramal:
the pen writes
Sharaf
the Water
in it is life-giving"
the Water
an Arabic
sav?d,
writing"
as
of
by "an old master."
actually
jlTjUj 3j* jj
Nezam?'s
Sav?d may
long
inkwell
existence
a
made
disclosure
stupendous
the grandees
the earth
again kissed
"this
is better
blackness
than any
As
"black
As
to Eskandar
still in Nezam?'s
forthwith
govern
is indeed borne out by the third Persian poem at
in the meter
C_*i
although
"state
"good
"felicity" (scf?dat) tomake good poetical sense. The "com
panion of the state" endowed with "felicity" can only be a
king. This
the
in Fer
apparent
allegory,
by Nezam?:
in the line as it
is spontaneously
meaning
fortune"
one of three
Qazdi,
Victoria
and Albert
a companion
and
va ("and")
of the word
both
because
felicity
the
There,
is disclosed
verses
of
ismore marked
dows?'s Sh?h-N?me,
Life
cJ>> 3 ?l?o? y o?U*
he be endowed
May
of good fortune
Hoseyn
il, London,
with
form of the original version
can be read on an unpublished bowl from Khor?s?n
which
probably
Museum.
>1*
felicity
is a slightly modified
This
17. State Inkwell, designed by Mirak
commissioned
by Shah Isma'
Fig.
allusion
discreetly
a
is the
tradition. The
to
Eskandar's
introduce
quest
through
the theme of world
stylization
of
archetypal
world
the
historical
conqueror
kingship;
the
Alexander
in
two lines also refer to the king's
the
the
Persian
right to life
and
over
death
his
subjects:
royal paraph written
every
life. Last
not
but
into
the
secret
life,
ties
in with
of
the
stood
in Safavid
Together,
they
as a
few
chosen
the
its black
the parable,
least,
of
concept
that
that
bring
initiation
to eternal
as under
"felicity,"
in the line above.
the unnamed
identify
of
access
gives
saf?dat,
wish
ink may
symbol
expressed
ideology,
the
express
they
from
as
ruler
the master
of
Indeed, the Shiite prayer (in Arabic) to cAl?, the
in the upper calli
cAl?, "Call unto cAl?," written
initiation.
N?di
tion
on
band
graphic
the
sides
the
underlying
the
emphasizes
selection
of
texts.
the
be better suited to an inkwell made
same
The
are
texts
the
same
patterns
essential
and
the
on
a bowl
same
the
hand.
retain
The
the
rosettes,
rosettes.
must
inkwells
in
same
the
polylobed
sun
tiny
close
Similar
have
in
com
been
some
of
similarity
Ismac?l
prompted
wells"
(there
were
Some
of
of M?zander?n
the
royal
may
have
at
been
the
least
now
more,
of Sh?h
time
must
occasion
at
of
who
in the reign of Sh?h
important
commission
ordered
ruler
to an early date
(1502-24).52
a
to a
presented
in 1510 points
died
they
the
inkwells
three
appear precisely
objects
large
three
The
together.
the
not
could
shah.
to those on the hilt of a dagger dated 502/1496-47
motifs
and
the
or
technique,
in
three
as
cartouches
missioned
written
all
such
features,
calligraphic
size
on
on
Yazd?. They
are
and
order,
decorative
These
for a Safavid
repeated
signed by M?rak Hoseyn-e
inten
religious
have
"state
three
missing);
Fig. 18. Baptist?re de Saint-Louis, detail of a roundel with a ruler flanked by
the amir daw?d?r carrying a state inkwell and the amir sil?h holding a sword
by the tip of the blade,
ink
to
to
it by
Saint
its nineteenth-century
of the Objects:
is borrowed
The
have
Inkwells
as vehicles
served
sal kingship
one,
often
or
two,
symbols
with
three
rounded
small
available
at
space
to
set
designed
left. The
hang
widens
pen-box,
very slightly, from the narrow
terminated
an
by
in which
design,
penbox
by
The
a
arched
A
a
narrow,
has
portable
used
often
of
in the manuscript
Independent
scenes
sultanate
on
the
of
presence
confirmation
a basin
which
in the
late
(fig. 18).53 D.
rise
was
thirteenth
the
emperor
trilobate
or
by
made
probably
early
S. Rice, who published
ad-D?n's
box was the
holding
is provided
standing
arms
de
aspects
and
bringing
the
figures
form
and
In
a
leading
In
court.
two figurative
in the Mamluk
fourteenth
century
the basin,
referring
Iranian-style
bull-headed
In
roundel,
fourth
the
prey,
mace
the
presumably
that
could
in the
dragon;
he appears
on
resting
ruler
a wild
alter
roun
four
feats
a
spears
long
procession.
the
performs
he
may
the
prisoners
game.54
ruler
whoever
ruler,
universe.
In one
G?r.55
the symbolism
the
back
the panels,
invisible
cheetah
is
isolated from the
of Rash?d
his
with
some
tip to the top end. This
is lodged,
Baptist?re
the
of
king
their
up
of Bahr?m
shoulder.
partition.
miniatures
in
model
that
the
sides,
hunters
those
"Le
next, he kills a lion; and in the third roundel,
container,
sides
Compendium ofHistories show that the elongated
one
be
compart
long
low
extremity,
the inkwell
isolating
taking up the rest of the
and
slightly,
with
dels
incorporating
type was
other
the belt.
of univer
is the elon
a narrow
into
1953]).
world.
celebrates
as
holding
nate
idea
text. One
extremities,
inkwells
from
the
conveying
image and/or
Warriors
likewise
inkwell-and-pencase
at right, with a long penbox
ment
the
for
through
box,
gated
of
types
the
Iranian
the
visually
meant,
on
panels
other
from
basin
been
the purely
context. He did not consider
the historical
Two
[Paris,
descriptive
name,
with
dealt
Louis,"
which
the Box-shaped
from Rice
(photo
perhaps
accession
Ismac?l's
the throne in 1502.
The Evidence
Paris, Louvre
his
draws
ass,
his
at
bow
at which
his
leaps.
the lip of the basin, horsemen
On
with
alternate
trating
the
sides.56
Two
roundels
mounted
action
hunters
of which
roundels
enclosing
filled
figurai
the
formal
scenes
thus
game,
pursuing
conclusion
with
in fighting
engaged
appears
and
patterns
alternately
illus
on
separate
the
two
the
long panels. The figurative scenes both show the king
enthroned, goblet in hand (fig. 18). He is flanked on one
side by the Amir Sil?h submissively holding up his sword by
the tip of the blade and, on the other side, by the Amir
Daw?d?r holding up an inkwell. Two lions seated on their
hind
legs
below
the
throne
are
the
lions
that were
chained
83
19. State inkwell-and-pencase,
Fig.
1210-1211,
Washington,
top view with
Freer Gallery
D.C.,
no. 36.7).
Washington,
D.C., Ace.
inscribed
19 and 20a photos:
(figures
a & ? * a ?To*
throne
an
to
according
ancient
is the word
daw?t.
19, with
Iranian
the signature
tradition
the
This
is the
only
so
object
only
the artist's
The
identification of the inkwell-and-pencase
further
signing
the
emphasizes
instrument
of public
One
"made
by
of
importance
Ibn
has
carries
name
the
come
to
rally
the
as
object
an
The
name
is now
and
a
which
in
"state
of
and
eulogies
titles
written
al- Mulk
ter, Majd
introduced
lettering.
ad-D?n
al Muzaffar,
tioned briefly by the Syrian geographer
many
cal
inMarv
years
in central
the Mucjam
dictionary,
entry dealing with aMarv
set up
times"
(wa khiz?na
is a eulogistic
dom")
hardly
nated
on
ad-D?n
inkwell.
of
geographi
notes
the viziers
al-Mulk
in
the
of modern
given
he
Fortunately
is fully
by
uncle
had
cAl?
ad-D?n
Sultan
was
removed
Mohammad
confessed
Muhammad
to."59
"Majd ol-Molk
from
because
The
ruler
Khw?razmsh?h
Sharaf
the ministerial
of a crime
mentioned
who
his
here
ruled
"its
over
is not
the
invaders
borderlands.
recorded
any
inkwell-and-pencase
1211: this is a
1210-14 June
were
inkwells
and
an
on
executed
transcribed
one
by Herzfeld
The
omission.61
or
invocation
as
owner,"
favorable
Might,
it says,
doc?'
the
with
first
and
God's
calling
names
whose
and
victory
thankfulness
endurance,
spiritual
vision
of God,
fullness
edgeable,
equitable,
victorious
phant,
Sharaf
spiritual
contentment,
immunity,
intercession,
of God,
fortune,
good
destiny,
spiritual
divine
constancy,
piety,
life shall lastingly
belong
. . . His most
glorious
lims,
is
Indian
to
attempts
titles
are supplied separately in a cursive calligraphic band on the
lid so as to be instantly apparent to the viewer holding it up
or looking down at it (fig. 19).
Kingdom]
state and
gov
that
on
of
period,
investiture.
mistakes
consists
sion,
as
named,
state
and
the
by
the
the Mongol
appointment
inscriptions were
minor
favor,
that
vizier's
on
for his
except
to
is established
the vizier's
phetic
vision
of the king
to viziers
of
integrity,
ahad al-wuzar?'al
("Glory
frequently
of theWorld Conqueror":
Mozaffar
ernment
84
Y?q?t
spent
identify by itself the historic character desig
the
minister
History
who
it
crushed by the
source
against
retreated
is dated 607/25 June
The
some
had
the
inkwell"
longest
found out, by cAt? Malek Joveyn?, the famous
in the T?nkh-e Jah?ngosh?, "The
and historian,
Herzfeld
of
occasion
favors
a series of libraries including one
li Majd
name
minis
is men
Y?q?t
"Majd al-Mulk"
muta'akhkhir?n).
would
al-Buld?n,
of
string
The
In his
Khorasan.
. . . one
al-Mulk
"Majd
by
by
in cursive
Sharaf
a
towns
Khorasan
But
a bid
made
eventually
main
career
the vizier's
sultan
date
our
account,
about
while
the
to us
down
a vizier
of
little
says
and
of Iran before being
armies.60
Mongol
Joveyn?'s
az-Zayn."
the Freer Gallery of Art. The piece has been known since
1936 when Ernst Herzfeld described it (figs. 19-20).57 The
lid
advancing
by inscription
the
inscribed
the whole
; *
Sh?dh?.
of Khorasan
province
where.
inkwell,
of Khorasan,"
large
several
office.
state
such
"Vizier
formula
of the painter/designer
to control
identified in the two scenes: the calligraphic friezes on the
back of the throne and on the rim of the royal goblet carry
,
??
*"'"**&#
incised on the inkwell
in the Sh?h-N?me. Lightly
and-pencase
?-
20a. Side view of Figure
Fig.
the
Majd al-Mulk Sharaf ad-D?n, by Sh?dh? in 607/
of the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian
Institution,
t?WXS"??<
(?"?*$
to
of the Vizier
courtesy
t? <>-v t\
^0SM^)
recorded
to the name
the dedication
of Art
and
and
pro
victoriousness,
gratitude,
divine
compas
tranquillity,
(of God's
bounty),
access
to external
requital,
. . .
to its owner.
knowl
great,
Excellency,
trium
supported
[by heaven],
of
al-Mulk
the
Majd
[Glory
ad-Dawla
wa'd-Dm
[honor of the
of religion],
the one
elected
succor
by
of
Islam
and
of Mus
Kings
and
by
Sultans,
of the (religious)
of
Light
community,
resplendence
to the
the Islamic
model
and to his
nation,
mighty
ijiiiii
mm?
m?
mili
\?>y
20b. Side view of Figure
Fig.
lord of the Viziers,
pillar of the firmament,
one
of
the
endowed
with
felicities,
deputies,
King
and
Minister
of
ordainer
of
Iran,
Excellency
son of his late
al Muzaffar
Khorasan,
Excellency
al-Mulk,
God
may
increase
Brief as it is, the dedicatory
D?n
is a major
al Muzaffar
that the kings known as the Khw?razmsh?h,
of
Sh?hs
Khw?razm,"
Khorasan:
Iran,"
whole
the
name,
al-Mulk,
which
there
of
solemnity
are
policy.
vizier
previous
Majd
the
who
other
in
the
for which
the occasion
minister
years
the
eulogistic
of
Iran.
band
calligraphic
between
the
two
executed
on
clasps
the
Stations
of
The
the
painter-designer
six hundred
and seven
is in the angular
inscription
script
/
In
the
of
the
so-called
winged
quadrupeds,
the world.
animal
heads
source
of
der
with
for
esoteric
the "wonderful
On
is a
tered by Eskandar
life. The
its twin
a
better
Birds,"
The
of
in the ultimate
conjures
the Talking
same
is in the
up
the
it may
thus
theme
cuted
be
seen
gramic rendition of the theme dealt with more
as
was
designed
on
found
script
The
Gallery.
the
In
at
Sh?dh?
signature
human
ziy?da,
Freer
inkwell,
all
short,
and
the
are
wishes
word,
on
So was
search
a
four
rated with
of Alexan
and
Dis
inkwell-and-pencase
Kufic
'
written
with
script,
piece.64
by
rule
"The
inkwell-and-pencase
Below
or duca
first
seen
encoun
Tree
termi
the
"state
is in Persian,
signature
not Arabic, possibly because the object was intended
personal use: camal-e Sh?dh? naqq?sh "made by Sh?dh?,
inkwell"
stages of his quest for the
of universal
connotations
knowledge:
which
beings"
the lid, the scrolling design with
stylization
motif
created
as
known
Freer
portable
in the Freer
uncommon
dating
head
hoopoe
eso
for
allegory
by the same artist (figs. 21-22).6* It is signed on the lid in a
band which lies horizontally when the lid is in place. The
The
type which
signify
the
en suite with
made
cursive
is used at that period in monumental
inscriptions. It is inserted between the two bands of
Kufic
of
the Birds."62
invocation
months
the
is
the
the portable
same
same
the
appears on the lid of the Freer
by Sh?dh?
of the year
eso
17). The
(fig.
is an
the Koran
specifically,
painter-designer."
back side of the lid:
Made
More
inscription
The
is stressed by the signing and dating of the piece consigned
in a superb
above
the final y? in the artist's name Sh?dh? suggests
the hoopoe is the initiator of the
possible Sufi undertones:
birds in Sheykh, Far?d od-Din cAtt?r's famous allegory
inkwell"
was
the piece
inkwell
sixteenth-century
nating
course
dynasty
of
to
according
discourse.
the
was
same
vizierial
history
teric
"The
control
the vizier
the
a
to
cases
min
in the following
carried
pointing
"the
to
Finally,
of
kings
[prime
as
attempts
by the sultan
to a deliberate
the
Excellency
described
that
of Iran made
of
"the
is also
demonstrating
conformed
son
He
literally "the
as
themselves
is called
the vizier
of Khor?s?n."
ister]
of
saw
early
discussed
is echoed by the bird heads terminating some of
the letters in the signing and dating formulae: the language
of the birds understood by the King Prophet Sulaym?n
(Solomon)
It shows
document.
the
teric motif
to Sharaf ad
inscription
on
in London
and-pencase
his prestige.
historical
verses
the Persian
peers,
Majd
invocation.
19, with
most
same
the
occurs
also
on
are
indications
were
shafts.
order.
of God,"
"perception
inkwell
characteristic
highly
The
which
the
that
conceived
is
portable
the
and
"state
exe
time.
a third
in a
in
that
the sides is an
terminating
given
object.65
This
the Talking Tree motif
is given
same
faces
Tree
Talking
inkwell. On
in the
for
the
cartouche
across
is a container
again
deco
on its flat top and signed
the
flat
top.
Here
the
in full:
picto
explicitly
in
85
Made
the Herat
by Shadh?
painter-designer
If the object was used for holding
and
a
was
gh?liyed?n,
to writing.
related
ture discussed
same
steps
as
seems
is the
the minia
is decorated
on
lying
in
throne
1) which
inkwell
the
is not
its function
probable,
neither
(fig.
a scented unguent,
the
with
a few
only
ground
the
away.
designed
miniature
and
by Shadh?
indicate
were
inkwells
their
of
to a
and
bronzes
silver-inlaid
Those
to Shadh?'s
were
the
ate
royal
The
patterns.
matching
on
signature
all
on
viziers
commissions
presumably
with
including
and
sultans
by
power.
decorated
given
prominence
three
that sets of objects
workshop,
single
were
the
commissioned
assumption
entrusted
lier,
But
above
pattern
The
state
as
three
pieces
and implies that the powerful of the day held
this signature in very high regard.
On the inkwell in the Freer Gallery (figs. 19-20), the
is expressed both in the eulogis
theme of world domination
is remarkable,
tic titles in the dedicatory
inscription and in the Talking
the
the
On
pattern.
portable inkwell (figs. 21-22)
theme is suggested by the unusual wording of the brief
Tree
duc?}
on
the
side
to the one
opposite
the
carrying
signature.
reads, in Arabic, bi'lyumn wa' d-daw [la], "with bliss
and good fortune." The usual formula of the period is bi'l
This
yumn
wayl
"with
baraka,
been
chosen
because
ning
allusion
to
bliss
and
divine
its alternative
Dawla
grace."
is
discreetness
Such
"state/government."
a pun
allows
meaning
has
probably explained by the fact that the vizier did not enjoy
the
same
degree
In contrast
Fig. 21. Portable Inkwell-and-Pencase
of signature and talking tree.
designed
en suite with
figure
19, detail
wells,
whether
examples
the Marquet
to the vizierial
is given
domination
have
as a sultan.
of authority
or
portable
come
de Vasselot
Of
to us,
22a. Detail
of figure
21,
the invocation
on the side
formerly
and
de Vasselot
\;
Fig.
two
these,
one
collection
The Walters Art Gallery.
Of the two, theMarquet
on
emphasis
not.
down
theme
the
inkwells,
considerable
the
of world
royal
ink
remarkable
preserved
other
specimen
now
in
in
(?g. 23)
is the more
nal
of
appearance
thirteenth
early
and
complete
it
ornament,
the
to reconstruct
the basis
earliest
royal
the origi
to
Datable
example.66
on
century
is
us
allows
the Walters
of epigraphy
the
and
inkwell-and
portable
in existence.
pencase
in
Constructed
same
ths
as
way
Shadh?'s
it
piece,
trapezoidal plate that covers the inkwell
at
the
is the
compartment
top. The only piece missing
circular lid to the inkwell itself, of which the location in the
retains the hinging
hinging plate is now indicated by the circular opening. The
division between the inkwell compartment
and the long
that
it
is
the
pencase
emphasized by
prolongs
projecting
hinge. Just under the hinging, at the top of the pencase
a
cover,
encloses
panel
artist's
The
signature.
to make out from the photograph
tion is difficult
the Survey
the
of Persian
Art
seems
but
inscrip
in
printed
to read:
*)?<^y??iJ> <~?~?y(J**
by Y?suf
Made
On
cizz
ad-d?'
im,
the figurative
The
the
one
cartouches,
the way
"lasting
al baraka,
evidence
two
side
of
two-thirds
touche,
no
reverse
the
other
L-A
b. Yacq?b
down,
and
might,"
"divine
the
scenes
some
offer
the
in
miniature
Under
compartment.
scene
a
represents
al
dvf?':
car
bottom
yield
Fortunately,
assistance.
first clue appears on the hinging
inkwell
the
top,
inscriptions
status.
patron's
the
this brief
These
grace."
identifying
at
enclose
the
plate covering
circular
enthroned,
king
a
opening,
in
goblet
hand. At left, the master of the hunt (M?r-e Shek?r) holds his
bow in his left hand and an arrow pointed down in his
right. At right, the master of the armories (M?r-e Sel?h)
deferentially raises a sword by the tip of the blade. A large
moon crescent dangling from the quillons can be identified
by
Fig.
22b. Detail
of figure
23. Portable Inkwell-and-Pencase
with
izontal strip which
21.
two
Fig.
comparison
by Yusuf
b. Ya1 q?b,
confronted
formerly Marquet
miniature
signifies
animals
painting.67
is a hor
the platform of the throne: the
represent
de Vasselot
Beneath
the
lions
chained
to
the
Collection.
87
throne.68 Here
world
is the archetypal
holding
the
the king's
at
Silver
under
running
and Gold,
the
At
arrow
the
top he
an
at
four
of
bottom
is shown
invisible
the
roundels
celebrate
as a mounted
An
prey.
from
cartouche
hunter
head
onager's
the
tip
a
of
is hunting onagers. This
is
palmette
signifies
of
Bahr?m G?r, "Bahr?m G?r
theOnager,"
the archetypal
that he
in Persian
hunter
royal
In
literature.
the
Bahr?m G?r and his beautiful Byzantine
a
is plucking
at a
second
seen
of
a
seal
Ferdows?
a
by
The
effigy.69
and
is
G?r
represented
Sasanian
in
mentioned
gazelle
Bahr?m
is simply
late
below,
lover, Az?de, who
a camel.
riding
which
gazelle
the manner
in
bust
are
harp,
to shoot
about
roundel
Nezam?'s
is also depicted, in the form of a gazelle head rising
from the bottom of the cartouche. In the third roundel is
account
the age-old
from
royal emblem
the Achaemenid
the
end
the
fourth
rides
an
deferred
zodiac
of Qajar
and
animal
for
sign
All
the
last
in the
roundel
of uncertain
the
in
period
times
(perhaps
scenes
the
sixth
early
a warrior
with
ilk.
Capricorn?)
on
the
twentieth
if a goat,
present:
a bull, seen
of the lion downing
theme
Its
in hand,
must
animal
could
88
is often
expressed
in panegyrics
be
be
a
or a constellation.
of Bahr?m
G?r
the king as the "Bahr?m G?r of our time." This
title
to
In
century.70
spear
interpretation
the
b.c.
century
to rulers
who
celebrate
eulogistic
claimed
late 13th century,
the arch of heaven
image of the king of the
cartouche,
signature
feats.
his
loosing
a royal hunt
24 showing
Inlaid with
court.
Below
rising
of Figure
25a-c. Details
Figs.
Iran, Brass
Western
Fig. 24. Portable Inkwell-and-Pencase,
no. 54.509.
Fig. 25c.
represented
Baltimore,
The Walters
by the trilobate
arch,
and
Art Gallery,
two parakeets.
from
descent
ancestor
the
Sasanian
Bahr?m
dynasty
G?r.
the
By
their
through
twelfth
late
at
such
century,
the kings of Shir
claims were made by the Shirv?nsh?hs,
v?n (present-day northen Azarb?yj?n
occupied by Russia
in 1828). The poet Khaq?n? writes, for example, in praise
of Abo'l Mozaffar Akhsat?n (meter: moteq?reb):
x,\J: jLil
Head
j*
g
^
of Bahr?m
the House
of
who,
ignation
the
of
style
is the
the
the
collection
a
otherwise
of
school
the
fourteenth
(figs.
as
as well
Iran,
those
of
to that
of
Shadh?'s
at
a
The
remains
shape
writes
exam
the
has
nineteenth-early
replaced
front
a
of
a
by
late
should
be
a horseman
hunter,
running
in
device
which
style
twentieth-century
In
ignored.
been
sword,
curving
same
the
14-15.
The
The
scene
second
wide-brimmed
cap who
Mongol
forward over
bends
a mounted
shows
reaches
for an
pointed
downward
When
is hunting
in his
while
quiver
in preparation
illustrate
one is the heroic hunt. The
king
"I
am
to the
boasts
The
he who
fells
silver
of
hunting
lions.74 The
pleasure
hunt
scenes
Sasanian
suggests
and
killing
dishes
is also
a common
The
association
royal
in the Sh?h-N?me:
crowns,"
Rostam
in single
combat.73
pre-Islamic
second hunt,
on.75
a
T?s
connection.
past
of
Iran:
various
represent
familiar
theme
the
two
the Abd?l,
two
the
the world,
in a
a Sufi
like
back,
parakeets
your
of my
the parrot
praise,
in a
It occurs
in poetry.
expressed
over
sweetness
Sufi poet
nature,
arena
the
of
hand
and
door
in the
including
province
large
Tehran
Close
Isfahan.
Rey
are
parallels
at Torbat-e
shrine
in
inscriptions
Shaykh-e
Jam and a frieze carved in stucco in theMasjed-e
in
J?mec
Isfahan.80
The
a
a master's
monumental
the
cEraq,
and
is in knotted
the script calls for comparison
Stylistically,
a wood
by
inkwell.
from
is clearly
It
fourteenth-century
and
offered
as a state
on the underside
script.
present-day
two lines in Arabic
signs which
concerning
is the
example,
from
group
hunting
idea
ner of the Mirror
kings
involving gazelles,
of
some
near
first
as defeating
lions," and sh?rg?r
distributes
in the
is rooted
number
times
and
after
grandees
symbolism
Sasanian
lions
Shomal?
century,
like
speech
of
out much
Kufic
(figs. 26-27).
is portrayed
the king of animals. Sh?rawzhan, "felling
lions" are royal epithets
"overpowering
his
dome
calligraphy
Khorasan
royal
archetypal
The
with
for action.
The
twelfth
mo'zar?):
its identification
floriated
he
a bow
left holds
hunts.
to Khezer,
moment,
Pours
a
As
an
singing
every
establishing
wearing
gazelles.
his
in reference
to the text
Sufi symbol gives a special connotation
inscribed on the sides of the portable inkwell while firmly
personage.
horseman
c
in Attar's
The
zarr?n
inkwell in Fig
court
declares
the world79
the neck of his steed his right hand
arrow
scenes
Both
a
as
him
the
convey
shooting
in Persian
cap,
sub
long-tailed
panegyric to a vizier by the fourteenth-century
Khw?j? Kerman? (meter: moz?re6):
in full
The
does.
gold-inlaid
identifies
cap
he
on the tower-shaped
kol?h, as the horseman
ures
as
back
looking
wears
on
Perched
gallop is about to loose his arrow at a leaping feline (fig. 25a
and 25b). Another hunter galloping ahead brings down his
horseman
the
throws
the garden
it shanging
sleeves78
visually
the
same,
In
releasing
state
spiritual
Until
only difference lying in the trilobate extremity (fig. 24).
The hinged trapezoidal lid that once covered the inkwell
compartment
the
symbolism,
small,
of Birds"
(meter:
parrot
pencase-and
essentially
arch
intellect apt at initiating:
the parrot
utterances.
The
similarity indicates a set tradition in Iran for
the imagery and calligraphy of royal inkwells irrespective of
styles.
the
JU- C*Jy tJy-0>> e^tto <JL>
j ^?3^
program
the previous
portable
of
side
initiator and guide to the fountain of life.77
talking parrot is in particular the symbol of the Sufi's
Dehestan?
per
form
hardly
the
standard
another
either
In Sufi
is a
parakeet
Discourse
"The
inkwells. The
regional
note.
of birds,"
the Khezer
sweet-tongued
executed
its decorative
Yet
24-28).72
analogy
to
am
The
to us
unknown
could
century,
The
is unusual.
in northwestern
located
a fundamental
bears
parakeets
esoteric
the
on
royal
that
signifying
Alexander's
inkwell-and-pencase
royal
portable
been
contrast
greater
ple
of
"I
allegory
haps in Shirv?n or Azarb?yj?n.
The Walters Art Gallery object, probably
turn
of which
parrot,
his
Bahr?m's
legendary
de Vasselot
product
have
may
a distinctly
introduce
it,
field of the king,
two
The
clich?.
under
rather
the
des
The
the world.76
i.e.,
sphere,
or
it,
is the hunting
world
appear71
the
from the Marquet
of
tip
to
sword
which
into
In
assumption.
is a metaphorical
species, are birds of penetrating
Makes
object
runs
the
of heaven
the arch
illustrated
(fig. 25 C),
strengthens
celestial
the
of
literary
regarding
the panel,
of
repertory
hunt
sword,
The
end
the
Persian
^
f L**. j*
jr.?
J??
theme of the arch of heaven
The
supposed
or
all such inscriptions
leaves doubt
some
The
(A/I-N),
may
will
in the man
spell out maxims
of
The
lack
diacritical
genre.
characterizes
words.
can
(wadfatuhu
remain
as
read
be
W-D-c-Y/T
a noun
tainty
of Princes
be
or
in,
letters
"if,"
inna,
as a verbal
read
wadfiyat)
concerning
alif-n?n
or
and
the exact
"verily."
form
(wadaftahu),
so on. While
rendering
for
The
uncer
as
long
as
89
26. Another
Fig.
view of Figure
24, side with Arabic
the quotation is not traced to its source, there is little doubt
about its broader meaning.
I tentatively submit (fig. 26):
in knotted
maxim
The
nicam.
government
for its basis
has
every
rise without
shall
the
from
subsistence
from
every
one
a crowd
ink to which
of
itself
tray helps
no
direct
doubt
that
The
pencase.
to
reference
is a
this
statesman's
in the set formula which
al-dawla
ayy?m
fi
of
the
"in
as-sult?n,
to
reference
the
maxims
the
of
the days
the
with
the
it highly
their
rasping
of the need
royal
prob
and
ence
on
on
the
time.
tile
luster-painted
at Takht-e
restored
that
the
A
the limitations of worldly
remember
example,
at
circles
ruling
reflect
asceticism,
by
Soleym?n
Sufi
strong
similar
glory
remind
ascetics
i.e.,
and
equal
Alexander
for
in the palace
are
naked,
destitute.82
way
The
"might/piety/k-m."
if one
that
considers
If one
is: birr,
part
takes
into
"piety."
of
account
The
wish
the
the
second
coined
K?f(K)
in such
is traced
stroke
alone,
a
lower
stroke
group
of
in the manner
[Yavaq?t
is: cizz,
reading
al-cOl?m],
only,
reading
is probably
letters
described
a
"might."
the
that
who
on account
for God.84
have
classic
is one
karam
someone
for
the Exalted
in his
and
(figs. 24-28)
is more
both
of
Fotovvat
the
treatise,
three
fundamental
prin
Art
inkwell-and
the tower-shaped
in 1985 (figs. 14-16) are related.
composition
The
ground.
scrolling
a circle
inlaid
the
figurative
off
against
of haloes
rendering
panels.
the
same
the
as
faces
framing
see
is identical:
silver
with
in
is set
apparent
readily
monumental
similar:
a
left in Figure
man
running
is short for karam and m?m (M) for
24 and
horse
the horse head
in Figure
the
ornament
out
is borne
the first
by
formal
from
the
15. The
on
the
of the tower-shaped inkwell (fig. 29) and that on
the underside of the portable inkwell in Baltimore (?g. 28).
underside
ure
rosette
29
enclosing
in the
flowers,
or
on
same
sun
half
interconnecting
over
is superimposed
pattern
way
rosettes,
as
same
the
in Figure
simply
palmettes
geometrical
same
28. The
circled
by
one
fillet
in Fig
repeat
six-petal
appear
both.
in "The
twelfth-century
for example,
compare,
connection
The
ignoring
and the inverted triangle in the
lettering,
Sciences"
encyclopaedia.83
90
the
word
compound
Rubies
of
first
the upper
both the stroke underneath
middle
on
very
Similar Sufi influence may be reflected on the under
side of the inkwell in a hne?dufa' splendidly calligraphed in
foliated Kufic (?g. 28). It seems to read al-cizz/al birr wa'l
k-m,
to God
in Figure 25a, the horseman in Figure 25b and the horse
men in Figure 15. The detailed handling of the horses is
the Hindu
born
Hafs-e
pencase sold at Sotheby's
The connection which is suggested by the faint Sufi imprint
The
the Mongol
emperor
the verses from the Shah
all men
that
to
invitation
among
Abaq? Khan (1265-1281);
Name calligraphed on the tiles are those inwhich
given by
Abu
Sufism,
early
the world
to turn
that you
Soltan?,
Gallery
influ
is expressed,
revetment
definition
ciples (asl) of the (Sufi) Way, (tar?qat).85
in The Walters
The portable inkwell-and-pencase
greed and the vanity of power, and their implicit advocacy
of detachment
of
figures
writes
K?shefi
N?me-ye
at human
aimed
irony
inkwell
the word
instances,
the following
renounce
to
it and
V?cez
intended for an imperial patron.
with
towering
needs
inscriptions:
of
In both
meaning.
cAtt?r submits
the
Karam:
government,
theme
"the
influence; Karam is a key ethical notion of
In his Biographies of theFriends of God [Tazjkerat al
of
as
meaning
the
makes
"government"
able that the object was
The
with
same
introduces dedicatory
. . ,"81
Coupled
sultan.
hunt,
here
is used
word
inkwell-and
personal
as
inkwell-and-pencase
JUJ (jljtf *j?J^T iS3j 3 C?-I r-ll? Jl <UaT ^^^S ^j\y C*-! L? ?\>-lj?l :f?
Vr" **.
?p- K>C?-J \jy *? ^^?-Lx?-!
leaves
dawla,
"government,"
as an
the inscription
Soghd?:
(fig- 27)
The
same
the
Awliy?'],
a measure
seen
be
alternatively
spelling of karam. Either way,
Sufi
betrays
Sufism.
but
could
k?f-m?m
to the
portable
carrying
place.
It is nothing
in search of
script.
of might and generosity,"
thereby recalling the small ink
well in Figures 14-16 which is inscribed with Arabic verses
if it
declining
of people
number
largest
group
abbreviated
alludes
Your
and floriated Kufic
Finally,
objects
to
Baltimore
gold
emphasize
piece,
inlay is used
details
in the same way
of a princely
character.
on both
On
the
the running man at far left (fig. 25a) wears
view of Figure
27. Another
Fig.
24, opposite
side with
second Arabic
maxim.
;*&&
Fig. 28. Another
on
the warriors
by
the
24, underside.
belt. Similar gold belts are
a tunic fastened by a gold-inlaid
worn
view of Figure
London
tower-shaped
piece
(figs. 15-16). The horseman drawing his bow on the Balti
more piece (fig. 25a) wears a gold-inlaid headdress or kol?h
those
closely
resembling
of
on
horsemen
the
London
the
turning back to strike the leaping lion
portable inkwell (fig. 25b) wears a gold
turban like the third horseman on the London object.
inkwell. The hunter
on the Baltimore
The
narrow
and
in time
gap
one.
Both
have
a
been
to western
ascribed
be
may
objects
must
if any,
space,
Iran,
probably to the imperial atelier of the first Muslim Mongol
in
locate the workshop
Ilkh?ns. This attribution would
in Azarb?yj?n,
Tabriz
Mere
evidence,
The
of
question
further
until
the
and
auction,
to
the
to us
known
metal
objects.
connection
cerns
The
of
in
costume,
not
this
as
be
left
bear
no
of
sign
inkwell
to
is confined
There
is no Chinese
the
it con
hat (fig. 24). In other words
itself.
is
on
scenes
inlaid
show
wit
that
painting
style
at
sold
indication of any Far East
the Walters
art
held
influence:
horseman
there
is not
element
is likewise devoid of Far Eastern
a great
deal
of difference
fighting on the tower-shaped
view of Figure
14, underside.
between
inkwell (figs.
16) and the hunters and fighters on the bowl in theMus?e
in Lyon, dated 748/August
1347.86 The
des Beaux-Arts
existence in the North West of a style untouched by Far
Eastern
that
suggests
art of
was
and
were
At
assumed.
the
14
the
same
there
ateliers
was
This
that
suggests
documented
the beginning
for
the
fifteenth
the
where
of greater
same
the
fourteenth
century
where
ateliers,
metal
were
objects
than
complexity
time,
the
has
of
the perfection
inkwell indicates that within
an
intimate
tive image [ftzwfr], formal design
bat].
of
imperial
cultivated
designed,
hitherto
turn
the
in Iranian
trends
the book
undoubtedly
been
around
influence
the calligraphy on theWalters
at all on the tower-shaped
inkwell of Figures 14, 15, and
16. Indeed, the figurai style of the two inkwells heralds the
later school of Fars which
Fig. 29. Another
to light.
24-28)
and
engraved
aesthetics
of
style
Iran.
painter-designers
(figs.
royal
through
wide-brimmed
Mongol
example
a
influence for the only
Chinese
ern
only
comes
inkwell-and-pencase
the Baltimore
of
be
must
provenance
accomplished
tower-shaped
existence
cannot
material
comparative
of
province
however,
regional
by equally
Designed
[naqq?sh],
ness
northwestern
circumstantial
proof.
open
the
figura
[tazh?b], and writing
state
the
link between
century
of
affairs
prevailed
that
as
[ket?
is well
early
as
of the fourteenth.
91
The
late
of the literary and visual
continuity
Khorasan
twelfth-century
manence
of
inkwells
under
produced
examples
the
the
IlKh?ns
to
inkwell.
(figs. 3-6) is echoed in the phrase "the inkwell of might"
inscribed in gold lettering on the inkwell sold in London
(figs. 14-16, 29). The royal hunt theme illustrated on early
inkwells (figs. 7, 7b) recurs on the portable Balti
inkwell-and-pencase
(figs. 24-28) just as the fighting
Khorasan
on Khorasan
scenes
[razm]
inkwells
shaped inkwell sold in London.
kings,
and
princes,
their
on
reappear
All
these themes celebrate
as masters
viziers
grand
of
the
form.
Sh?h-N?me,
C.
one
served
as
earlier
period,
purely
receives
talking
scenes,
occasionally
Safavid
period,
on
three
of
as
on
Ibid.,
of
theme
Persian
but
verses,
to the
such
in the early
in the
7.
accessions
as
nize
"state
business
ternary
the
power
or
to
way
the
E.G.
Browne
inkwells"
and
the
in
those
relating
ed. Z.
ol-V?sec
Jabal?, D?van,
tughr? is the royal signature
Mohammad
10.
b. Hend?sh?h
ed. A.
by
ed.
II, 124.
Saf?
formally
1339/1906),
G. Doerfer,
(Tehran,
calligraphed.
3
1967),
Mahmud
cAl?ughl?
Dast?r
Nakhjav?n?,
cAl?z?de
(Moscow,
al-K?tib f? Tacy?n
II, 76.
1976),
in literature as Monsh?)
Tar?kh-e
B?g Torkam?n
(known
ed. I. Afshar
II, 1092.
(Tehran,
1350/1971),
Eskandar
cAlam?r?-yecAbb?si,
12.
On
13.
D.
see A.
the Dav?tkh?ne,
On
A.
fascicle dash-del, number
1926-78),
Dehkhod?,
Loghatn?me
181, 297-298
hereafter,
(Tehran,
Loghatn?me.
see Ibid.
the Dav?td?r,
and B. Gray,
T. Rice
al-Din
(Edinburgh,
The most
common
The Illustrations
1976),
46,
to the "World History"
of
D. T. Rice and
pi. 4; hereafter,
to us. We
can,
however,
made
celebrate
by
or, more
precisely,
his
on
their
recog
government
and
of bronze
word
govern
(Tabriz,
15.
in daily
and
like a bow,"
at others
of
viziers
may
is the bow.
qua
government.
and B. Gray,
Ibid.,
17.
C. K. Wilkinson,
70, pi.
ad-D?n Beylaq?n?,
The Metropolitan
Note
"The
Glazed
Pottery
of Nishapur
is that
See "Description
used, purely
transcription
in the author's Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World (see note
adopted
in their majority
will not be
who
It is aimed at historians
21 below).
with the peculiar and unpronouncable
acquainted
used inOrientalist
linguistics.
20.
transliteration
system
often
1. J. Mohl,
Le Livre des rois (Persian text and French translation,
are to the Persian
text only) (Paris, 1836-78),
7
References
unreliable.
see
the
On
the
date
of
Paris.
Sh?h-N?me,
vols., hereafter,
Sh?h-N?me,
of Persia
(Cambridge,
reprint
1977),
II,
19.
105, fig. 6.
of which no
See
Remains
survives.
also:
of the Excavations,"
"Christian
eds., Forschungen
in C. K. Wilkinson,
zur
Nisha
1973), XXVIII-XL.
"Islamic Metalwork
A. S. Melikian-Chirvani,
"
Arts of the Islamic World, 1, (Winter,
tural History,
Cast
and Samar
20 (1961),
of Art Bulletin,
arch ground plan of the four apses
Museum
the unique pointed
actual monumental
instance
18.
in this essay
Ab?d?
170, pi. 66.
from Nishapur,"
in O. Aslanapa
and R. Nauman,
Kunst Asiens (Istanbul,
1969), 80, fig. 1.
for convenience,
ed. M.
16.
16.
kand,"
the
image
D. T. Rice
D?v?n-e Moj?r
96.
1358/1979),
pur (NewYork,
92
1903) 2 volumes,
(London-Leide,
compiled
ol-Alb?b,
of the
symbol of the office held by the Master
as early as the mid-twelfth
This
is established
"You know that the sky is your
century by this line by Moj?r Beylaq?n?:
moon
M?r-e Sel?h because
in its hand?The
is at times like a shield and
B?g Monsh?
grand
like. We
which
A Literary History
1331/1952),
its inclu
by
and concludes
remark, "I do not know its etymology,"
by
that tughr? could be a loanword
from some non
suggesting
culture as seems, indeed, highly probable.
Armories
on the transcription.
Browne,
script:
und mongolische Elemente im neupersischen (Wiesbaden,
the eleventh-century
II, 342, quotes
lexicographer
al-Mar?tib,
14.
Hend?sh?h
instruments
even
inkwell
gold
Ebn
come
has
objects
one
by Eskandar
employed
The
E.G.
compare
tentatively
Rashid
NOTES
A Note
cAbd
volumes,
11.
Ismac?l,
expressed
than
by
formal
looked
silver-inlaid
alloys
in
On
in words,
not
that
or
cal?, literally "sublime
script," could refer to a
Ferdows?'s
Khatt-e Khosrow?,
"royal
377. Khatt-e
B. Gray.
century
to kings
to power
gave
Shah
by
mentioned
century
over
handed
scenes
other
regretted
those
Siy?sat-N?me
S?ber TermezI,
?d. A. Qav?m,
Divan,
(Tehran
a classic as is demonstrated
piece was considered
sion in the famous biographical
and anthology
dictionary
Mohammad
the Lob?b
cOwf? in the early 13th century,
9.
early
153;
1891),
(Paris,
Adib
Turkish
lacking.
the most
what
the
prevailed
is directly
enemy
that
figurative
By
is conveyed
symbols
seventeenth
know
ment
as
fourteenth
early
never
are
to be
is much
and-pencase
the
visual
dome
celestial
It
over
victory
text)
Modarres?,
script."
K?shgar?'s
of metalwork.
types
the
proves
situation
figurative
inkwell
Qazv?n?,
196.
6.
court
(Persian
ed. M.
M.
T?rikh -eBeyhaq?, 374.
images
in
any
purpose.
commissioned
state
the
of
reverse
other
inkwell-and-pencases
of
inkwell
exclusion
the
symbolism:
inkwells
the notion
ruler's
the
the
however,
expression
texts
to
served
footnotes
5.
of
1. 899-901.
78,
Siasset Nam?h
ed.,
2537sh./1978),
(Tehran,
T?rkische
that
prevailed
images
the Baltimore
images,
with
273. The
unqualified
impression
These
although
literary
discourages
the distinct
symbols.
Paris, VII,
Schefer
reprint
8.
the paucity of evidence
assertions,
the
3.
4.
306. The
sword and pen. The image of the pen is physically present
in the object or is at least made implicit by its function, and
the image of the sword is supplied in literary and visual
While
1305-7/
(Tehran,
Sh?h-N?me,
style
tower
the
Pish?var?,
mentioned
The wish of might and victory expressed in Arabic verses
on the Baltimore domed inkwell by Mahmud
b. Abu Sahl
more
T?rikh-e Beyhaq?, ed. Adib
Tar?kh-e Beyhaq?.
hereafter,
on silk is often
Paris, VII,
120, 1. 1392-1393. Writing
in early literature. Chin in the Sh?h-N?me and early Persian
not China as I have indicated previously.
literature refers to Turkistan,
"
See my forthcoming
The Turks of Ch?n."
2.
the per
state
the
133. Beyhaq?,
1887-9),
Iranian
emphasizes
attached
symbolism
themes from
to western
bronze;
10.9
cm; diameter
as a Source
1982/83),
of underside,
on Cul
43, fig.
12.
excluding
height
in Sotheby's
Works of Art, Carpets,
7.8 cm. Reproduced
projections,
1985 (sale catalogue),
16 April
hereafter,
Textiles, 16 April
Sotheby's,
1985. This
inkwell was photographed
by the author in 1978; itwas then
of H?j Farm?n of Tehran who had bought
it from the
in the possession
Herat
trade.
see A.
their visual
and
celestial metaphors
S. Melikian-Chirvani,
On
21.
in metalwork,
rendition
Art in Iranian Painting
and
"Conceptual
Akten des VIL Internationalen Kongresses f?r iranische Kunst und
Metalwork,"
of Islam,"
idem, "The Aesthetics
Arch?ologie (Berlin,
1979), 392-400;
Treasures of Islam (Geneva,
23-24.
1985), especially
The early thirteenth-century
lished inA. S. Melikian-Chirvani,
inkwell
22.
(London,
23.
1982),
K?m?l
ed. H.
Esfah?m.
perpetrated
This
ol-c01?mi
The
poet was
by the Mongol
invaders
be an
further. The
no.
Inv.
is fully pub
"The
Ettinghausen,
Islamic Bronze,"
killed
(1943),
inkwell was mentioned
the massive
during
at base
box
cm.
7.9
of an
and
Style
199, fig. 4. The
in "Sasanian
and Islamic
196,
again by Ettinghausen
in Baltimore,"
468,
Apollo, 84 (1966), 466, and reproduced
ibn Abi
fig. 9, with a caption stating that itwas "made" by Muhammad
Sahl of Herat.
Such signatures
refer to designers,
not bronze
actually
makers.
It occurs
26.
on the candlestick
the same
AM
domed
no. 40 preserved
in the M?ze-ye
Pars
casket AM 3355 with chamfered
sides of
type as The Walters
7880-115.
Art Gallery's;
on three
inscriptions
Full
"Nouvelles
Melikian-Chirvani,
remarques
G?r's
feat
on the Louvre
35.
36.
Moj?r
38.
For an example
of al-dawla broken
in the Kabul Museum
described
39.
D.
1955),
41.
42.
E.
45.
J. W. Allan, Islamic Metalwork: The Nuhad es-Said Collection (London,
of
1982), 36-39. The British scholar offers a very personal
interpretation
the symbols.
It is not based on Persian
literature which provides
the key
its array of metaphors.
29.
Sh?h-N?me,
30.
On
art,
et
31.
dragon),
The
1. 1409.
I, 328,
the metaphor
in poetry,
see A. S. Melikian-Chirvani,
most
famous
work
Library,
see H. Mass?,
Kam?l
33.
As?r Akhs?kat?,
Esfahan?,
Chirvani,
that king
that title
is by Muham
in Arabic
and
composed
an anonymous
cAf?f?,
the phrase
1351/
(Mashad,
is entered as a
[ken?ye] for the sun.
Takht-i Suleiman
Naumann,
(Munich,
1976),
pi.
8A
catalogue).
Islamic Metalwork,
Melikian-Chirvani,
described
inserted between
on
page
appears
202-207.
at
The
the bottom
long frieze of
of the sides
landscapes on the flat bottom and the five
illustrating "the return from the hunt."
S. Melikian-Chirvani,
22 (1970) hereafter,
22, and 36.
Asiatiques,
204
the riverside
of royal scenes
A.
ed. R.
III, 499, where
1955),
"Le Roman
"Le Roman
de Varqe
de Varqe,"
et Gols?h,"
compare
pis.
Arts
16,
e. g. Sh?h-N?me, Paris,
the
I, 178. However,
gold is specifically
of kings and princes. On Z?l's
return Man?chehr
gives him
include a gold crown
presents which
[taj-e zar] and a gold belt [zarnn
variant
color
thinks Siy?vush
is ready to be
kamar]: I, 234, I, 284. When
Key K?'?s
made
the heir apparent,
he gives him
the country
of K?varshan
(M?var? an-nahr) after having ordered a gold throne, a gold necklace,
and a gold belt and having formally granted him his investiture:
II, 206.
47.
He misread,
not without
led him
excuse, mid?daka as z?daka which
to translate "When you open the
inkpot, may glory and grace increase
. . ." The first line should
for you.
thus be transcribed
the
(using
transliteration
Id fatahta
accepted by linguists):
(-fatahat) daw?ta 'l-cizzi
wa 'l-nic am?Fa
in the Paris
(Paris,
48.
Two
and Albert Museum
are
2-1883
and 454-1888)
(Victoria
and illustrated
inMelikian-Chirvani,
Islamic Metalwork,
283
published
85. The complete
in the Benaki Museum,
was repro
specimen
Athens,
duced in A. U. Pope, ed., A Survey of Persian Art,
1964-65
(Tokyo,
), 12
pi. 1387 A. The inscriptions were left unread at the time
in the Survey. Those
visible
in the plate are indentical
in layout
content with
those on the London
inkwells. On
the dome
is the
volumes,
ad-D?n Akhs?kaV?, ?d. R.
93. Another
sheep,
image
Hom?y?n
is that of the royal
ibid., 94.
S. Melikian
published
Studia Iranica 6 (Paris,
1977),
XII,
as usual
and
cAl?
here, on the "drum,"
reproduced
part of the N?di
cawnan
At the bottom,
the end of one hemistich
(tajid-hu
lakaf?'l-nawa'ib).
. . .
and the beginning
of another: z'?n dav?t?Az
siyah? dam.
Persian
in A.
ifal mid?daka min J?din wa min karam.
translated
585.
Art Gallery
inv. no. 54.515,
"Les Bronzes du Khorassan-V,"
Walters
301,
3-4),
is, in war, like
(1984,
Le Livre des merveilles du monde,
D?van-e Asir
(Tehran,
1337/1958),
on the celestial
hawk pouncing
34.
and
la gnose
11-12.
32.
Farrokh
272
under
published
Zakariy? al-Qazw?n? originally
at an early date. On
into Persian
1944), especially
chronicles
"Le Sh?h-N?me,
and 324-25.
mad
National
historical
le pouvoir mongol,
Journal Asiatique,
"
?(LeSh?h-N?me,
(note the verse "For
hereafter
a male
Paris,
the use of
monumental
soufie
(Paris,
46.
28.
with
and R.
(exhibition
panels
san School.
Farhang-e Jah?ng?r?,
1353/1975),
standard metaphor
talking.
Later Khora
of Art
The Architecture of Islamic Iran, (Princeton,
pi. 44, cat. no. 68, and pi. 39, cat. no. 28.
Inj? Sh?raz?,
animals
II: The
Islamic
N. Wilber,
1972; Tehran,
44.
chapter
see the Herat
in Melikian-Chirvani,
S. Rice,
The Wade Cup in the Cleveland Museum
and pis. I, II.
74, fig. 20 (line drawing)
D.
to the Muzaffarid
prince Sh?h Solt?n
(these form a
verse also appears,
without
shohrat). The
any other
on a Fars bowl decorated
with
inscription,
typical royal themes?the
flanked by two attendants.
He
is drinking
wine or
king enthroned,
Islamic Metalwork,
up as al-d/awla
16 April 1985, lot 105. Heigh
5.9 cm; itwas acquired
in
Sotheby's,
Iran by the owner from whom
the vendor
in turn bought
it. I owe this
to Stephen Wolff of Sotheby's who does not mention
information
the fact
in his caption.
name
inMelikian-Chirvani,
1986, Islamic Works of Art,
40.
dedicated
will be found
294-95.
?d. Dr. M.
82, note 54.
Metalwork,
cover
metalwork
"Le Sh?h-N?me,"
buckler
given
examples
the beautiful
by
ad-D?n Bilaqan?/Beylaq?n?,
in Sotheby's,
16 April
reproduced
Carpets and Textiles (London,
1986), 25, nr. 68.
43.
or
D?van-e Moj?r
350.
1358/1979),
Bilaqan?,
(Tabriz,
etMonuments
"Nou
hereafter,
Lyonnais,
(1971, 3), 387-91,
Further
ail royal albeit anonymous,
in
remarques."
examples,
idem, Islamic Metalwork,
154-55, note 50 (Fars bowl, private collection,
of the Konya
bowl
156, note 67 giving complete
London);
transcription
velles
Numerous
accompanied
see Melikian-Chirvani,
First
respectively
items published
in A. S.
sur l'?cole du Fars," Bulletin
of duc?s on Khorasan
field when
37.
candlestick
des Mus?es
27.
in the hunting
For example,
Ab?di,
xc-xci).
of the elongated
on both types.
Metal-work
at Sh?raz; on the Louvre
"animated
587-88,
probable
in 633 (preface
inkwell-and-pencase
same symbols appear
Gazette des Beaux-Arts,
ad-Din
now add that two gazelle heads
of
rising from stalks in the manner
scrollwork"
raised frontleg,
appear at left, over the horse's
and under its belly. They are probably pictogramic
to Bahr?m
allusions
would
Az?de.
10.2 cm.; diameter
height
Bobrinski
Patron
'Kettle,'
54.514;
R.
l Fa'zl Kam?l
(Tehran,
1348/1969),
out Kam?l's
works
editor
The
could well
type illustrated
25.
Bahr
to ca. 568/1172-73.
holocaust
24.
khall?q ol-ma cam Abo'
D?van-e
Esfah?n?,
EsmacilEsjahan?,
hereafter, K?m?l
birth date
from Khorasan
Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World,
Islamic Metalwork.
104, hereafter, Melikian-Chirvani,
189-191. Reproduced
in 1977 that the horseman
pi. Vb, VI. I suggested
slain by him comes closest
might be Bahr?m G?r. The kind of "dragon"
to the mythical
beast described
in the Sh?h-N?me VI 42 ("He saw a
like a male lion-Its head covered by hair rising as
dragon
high as him
Its chest with two breasts
like those of women").
To this argument,
I
poem
93
49.
the author's
See
Literary Symbols and Their Visual Trans
forthcoming
lation in Iranian Culture.
50.
(Tehran,
51.
D?van-e
Kerman?,
Khw?j?
Afsh?r
Paris,
Sh?h-N?me,
K?mel-e
214-26.
V,
(Tehran,
December,
53.
S. Rice,
B, hereafter,
Eskandar?,
Sharaf-N?me-ye
"Four
of
Pieces
Unknown
School,"
Le Baptist?re de Saint-Louis
Rice,
Islamic
Metalwork:
10 (London,
AARP,
(Paris,
pis.
1953),
54.
Rice,
Baptist?re,
pis. VI, VII.
55.
Rice,
Baptist?re,
respectively
56.
Rice,
Baptist?re, pi. XXVIII.
57.
E. Herzfeld,
pis. XXIV
and XXV,
27A and
XXVI
and
XXVII.
"A Bronze
Ars Isl?mica
Pencase,"
in A. S. Melikian-Chirvani,'
Inscriptions
fully published
du Khor?ss?n?VII
S?zT de Herat,
ornemaniste,"
(1979,
58.
Y?q?t,
"Les Bronzes
hereafter,
Iranica
8,
du Khor?ss?n?VIL"
ed. F. W?stenfeld,
al-Buld?n,
Mucjam
3 (1936), 35-43.
"Les Bronzes
Studia
1866-70),
cAt? Malek
Tar?kh-e Jah?ngosh?,
ed. Mirz? Muhammad,
3 volumes)
1, 119. The editor has opted for
but notes that three manuscripts
al-Mulk"
have it as
Joveyn?,
1912-37,
(Leyden-London,
the version "Mujir
a reading
al-Mulk,
Majd
borne
out by
the inscription
on
the inkwell
60.
Good
of his
summary
of Iran, V
(Cambridge,
reign
1968),
by C. E.
192-95.
The Cambridge
Bosworth,
See note
61.
57. Tacy?d does not appear in the transcription
in its translation.
endurance"
riy?da, "spiritual
nor does
62.
sh./1977),
That has become
the Guide
ot-Toy?r, ed. S. Gowhar?n,
(Teh
to thee o hoopoe
that has become
to every
the Messenger
of Truth/Reality
riverside."
Hereafter,
cAtt?r, Manteq
63.
Bronzes
du Khor?ss?n-VII,"
"Les
of the duc?,
ot-Tayr y aMaq?m?t
35, begins: "Hail
cAtt?r, Manteq
ran, 2536
remarkable
ot-Tayr.
to
then mayor
of Herat,
Naqshband?,
of
and
published
privilege
having photographed
1979.
cAt? Mohammad
I owe
the piece
64.
the great
in 1974 and
Other
instances
in A.
note 48 (cover of inkwell);
65.
66.
67.
"Les Bronzes
S. Melikian-Chirvani,
117C (ewer);
A.
Islamic Metalwork,
126, no. 55 (bowl).
du Khor?ss?n-VII,"
A Survey of Persian Art, pi.
fig. 5, pi.
81,
This
and
Grabar
tradition
1317C and D.
Le Roman de Varqe, pi. 10, left and 63 top
S. Blair, Epic Images and Contemporary History
to the royal throne accounts
two seated
of
motif
the
lions depicted
unexplained
the royal throne in miniature
down to at least
painting
the hitherto
addorsed
below
the fourteenth
of having
lions chained
century.
Such
fall of the empire
94
royal staircase.
showing
(Tehran,
130.
1318/1939),
Brass
inlaid with
silver
525.
II, 116,1.
74.
See latterly P. O. Harper,
The Royal Hunter (New York,
1978), 39,
fig. 6 (Hormid II), 59, fig. 17B and idem, Silver Vessels of the Sasanian Period
p. 60 (Cleveland
(New York, 1985), I, 215, pi. 14 discussed
plate show
unidentified
37, pi. 37 (Hermitage,
ing Hormizd),
king), hereafter,
in this writer's
Harper, Silver Vessels. Other plates which
opinion are later
than the Sasanian
in showing
that the royal
period are equally relevant
after the fall of the dynasty
in areas (e.g.,
the plate
imagery continued
from the Alexander
Burnes collection,
known from an engraving
and a
I date in the
226, pi. 25 which
p. 212; The British Museum,
drawing,
late seventh to eighth century a.D.; the Samarqand
plate, 231, pi. 30.
Silver Vessels, I, 219, pi.
Harper,
18.
as a dome,
is a
referring
perceived
in literature,
161:
"The
e.g., Moj?r Beylaq?n?,
D?van,
clamour of trumpets has carried its lament beyond
the arch of heaven."
(Third line up from the bottom.)
77.
to heaven
arch of heaven,
The
motif
standard
line 807.
ol-Tayr, 45,
cAtt?r, Manteq
in a.d.
in his anthology
in 741/1341,
Quoted
by Badr J?jarm?
composed
Mo'nes
ol-Ahr?r fi Daq?yeq
ed.
M.
cAl?ame
ol-Ashc?r,
Qazv?n?,
(Tehran
2 volumes,
II, 504. On Shomal? Dehest?n?'s
1337/1958-1350/1971),
on metalwork
652. See for example
see A. Khay?mp?r,
dates,
tradition,
from Tabares
probably
the shallow bowl
after
79.
80.
The
exhibited
D?van-e
Kerman?,
Khw?j?
(Tabriz,
1340/1961),
35. The
Kamel,
vizier
is Rukn
ad
ul-Mulk.
D?ncUm?d
is to be published
door
by the writer Masjed-e
A Survey
J?mec,
IX, pi. 532A.
water
As on the Herat
tank or mirjal:
brass?quaternary
alloy??
S. Melikian-Chirvani,
"Un Bassin
iranien de l'an 1375," Gazette des
Beaux-Arts, 73, nr. 1200 (1969), 7 (text) and 8, fig. 3 (plate).
81.
A.
82.
"Le Sh?h Name,"
Melikian-Chirvani,
83.
284, note
28.
?d. M.
T. D?neshpazh?h
69:
Yavaq?t ofol?m,
(Tehran,
1345/1966),
the
of
letter glossed as an abbreviation
compare
analogy
Tasawwuf?each
a type of abbreviation
for one word,
of which
the encyclopaedist
a name,
in which k?f(K)
is short for k?tib, sh?
disapproves?Kush?jim,
is an entire
for shcfir, and
-jim for munajjim. There
on abbreviations,
and Arabic
from
sections
rians, which
cannot
84.
never
of nouns,
be considered
Sheykh Far?d ad-D?n
(Tehran,
1346/1967),
K?shefi,
Fotovvat-N?me-ye
ran,
1350/1971),
86.
The
the inaccurate
inv. no. E 542-22
(1969,
Tazkerat al-Awliy?',
ed. M.
Soltan?,
ed. M.
J. Mahj?b,
(Teh
location
Beaux-Arts,"
2), 189-95,
at Lyon,
des Beaux-Arts
in
the
with
6,2552,
pieces
Survey,
des Arts"
is in a building
(The Museum
It was first published
and reproduced
in
in the Mus?e
in a list of dated
"Palais
des Beaux-Arts).
S. Melikian-Chirvani,
des
the limits of a footnote.
30.
was mentioned
called Palais
in
body of literature
and compound
words
art histo
by Western
298.
V?cez
bowl
mentioned
cAtt?r Neyshabur?
85.
France,
acronyms,
within
Esteclam?,
Mus?e
the
Sokhanvar?n,
Farhang-e
304B.
A.
occur
seal style representations
t?n in northern
Iran, done in the Sasanian
69.
Sh?h-N?me,
made
lv.
seem to have
(Chicago/London,
1980), 85, no. 14; 113, no. 28. These
were
crescents
to which
been metallic
stoles
attached.
I hope to
royal
discuss the purpose of this elsewhere.
for
73.
Persian
S. Melikian-Chirvani,
right; O.
68.
Illustrated
of Persian Art,
pi. Ill, figs. 2 and 3, pi. IV,
in A. S. Melikian
231, 232. First published
fig. 4, pi. V, fig. 8, 225-26,
"Les
Bronzes
du
Studia
Chirvani,
Khor?ss?n?I,"
Iranica, 3 (1974,
1),
I came across the object in Herat, when
it was still in the
fig. 9, pi. XI.
set up according
to Islamic
foundation
law by its owner,
the
private
whom
ed. Z. Sajjad?
78.
and-pencase.
History
fold-out
160-165,
D?van,
72.
76.
4, 509.
59.
Years of Iranian Art (Wash
for the Achaemenid
examples
period are the bas
R. Ghirshman,
Pers: Proto-Iraniens, M?des, Ach?
1963),
Khaqan?,
75.
(Leipzig,
best known
from Persepolis:
m?nides (Paris,
7000
[R. Ettinghausen],
156, pi. 500.
1965),
in the Survey, XII,
pi. 1333B.
w. 3.6 cm.
and gold. L. 24.3 cm., Maximum
Baptist?re.
2), 230-231,
in 1964:
The
71.
24-30.
1976),
D.
Nez?m?,
493.
n.d.),
S. Melikian-Chirvani,
on a Previously
Notes
Some
70.
reliefs
A.
52.
ed. M.
Kerman?,
Khw?j?-ye
91.
n.d.),
ed. V. Dastgherd?
in America
ington, D.C.,
"Bassins
Bulletin
and discussed
iraniens
des Mus?es
du XlV?me
etMonuments
in idem, "Nouvelles
si?cle
au
Lyonnais,
remarques,"
382.
4