Lot 57R
A Khorasan silver-inlaid brass pen box Persia, 12th/13th Century
25 October 2021, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £4,462.50 inc. premium
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A Khorasan silver-inlaid brass pen box
Persia, 12th/13th Century
Persia, 12th/13th Century
of tapering rectangular form terminating in an openwork foliate motif with dome finial and brass ring, engraved and decorated in silver inlay, the top with a cartouche containing pseudo-inscriptions surmounted by an openwork mihrab aperture surrounded by foliate vines, the front and back with alternating registers containing text in kufic and foliate motifs, the sides with inscriptions in muhaqqaq
23 cm. long
23 cm. long
Footnotes
Inscriptions: al-'izz wa al-iqbal wa al-dawlah wa al-sa'adah wa al-salamah, 'Glory and prosperity and wealth and happiness and well-being, al-'izz wa al-iqbal wa al-dawlah wa al-sa'adah wa al-baqa li-sa[hibihi?],
'Glory and prosperity and wealth and happiness and long-life to its owner', bi'l-yumn wa al-bara[kah], 'With Good-fortune and blessing'.
Pen boxes such as the present lot were probably intended to be carried about tucked into the belt of a scribe, a practice which continued in the Ottoman empire until modern times. For the type, see Eva Baer, Metalwork in Medieval Islamic Art, New York, 1983, fig. 49.
Important Notice to Buyers
Some countries e.g., the US, prohibit or restrict the purchase by its citizens (wherever located) and/or the import of certain types of Iranian-origin works. As a convenience to buyers, Bonhams has marked with the symbol R all lots of Iranian (Persian) origin. It is each buyer's responsibility to ensure that they do not bid or import a lot in contravention of the sanctions or trade embargoes that apply to them.