Matthew Thomas
Senior Specialist
Lot 88*
A Safavid cast brass Torch-Stand (mash'al) Persia, late 16th Century
8 October 2013, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street£10,000 - £15,000
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A Safavid cast brass Torch-Stand (mash'al)
Persia, late 16th Century
Persia, late 16th Century
the shaft of tapering conical form, with splayed foot, everted rim and flaring foot, the neck with two inscription-filled pole-medallions with a band of floral vine above and below, the rim and neck moulding with further inscription, the body with two bands of grooved chevron design,the interspaces with palmette interlace forming further pole medallions, a floral vine band above and below, the shoulder with two openwork handles in the form of palmettes and the lower moulding with an inscription (rubbed), the foot with two bands of further floral vine and a band half pole medallion, the edge of the foot with interlace
28.7 cm. high
28.7 cm. high
Footnotes
Inscriptions:
comprising owners' names,
On the neck,
1)'Its owner Ashraf'
2)'Its owner Hasan 'Ali son of the Master (ustad) Qutb, the Cook (tabbakh)'
On the rim,
1)'His (God's) servant Muhammad Hafiz'
2)'Ghafur'
On the top plain band,
'Abu'l-Hasan'
On the lower plain band,
1)'Hasan'
2)'Abu Sa'id'
This torch-stand relates to three examples in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. For a full discussion of these objects, see A S Melikian-Chirvani, Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World 8-18th centuries, London, 1982, pp. 310-15, cat. nos. 138, 139 and 140. Comparison can also be drawn with an example sold at Sotheby's (Arts of the Islamic World, 5th October 2011, lot 258).