Page 35 - ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND INDIAN WORLDS Carpets, Ceramics Objects, Christie's London Oct..27, 2022

VARIOUS PROPERTIES
25
A ROYAL JADE SEAL IN THE NAME OF INSCRIPTIONS:
SHAYKH IBRAHIM II SHIRVANSHAH rasti avar ke kardi rastegar | sheikh ibrahim bin
farrukh yasar, 'O you, bringer of justice, who made
(R.1502 - 1524) safe | Shaykh Ibrahim bin Farrukh Yasar'
EAST CAUCASUS OR IRAN, FIRST QUARTER
16TH CENTURY
Shaykh Ibrahim II (r.1504-1524), for whom this
The circular celadon jade seal inscriped with
seal was made, was the 40th Shah of Shirvan,
elegant nasta'liq against a swirling vine, the reverse
today part of the Azarbaijan republic. In 1507,
plain
he rebelled against the Safavids, but was forced
1ºin. (2.7cm.) diam.
to make peace again in 1509, after which the
£10,000-15,000 US$12,000-17,000 Shirvanshahs became parts of the Safavid
€12,000-17,000
tributaries. He visited Tabriz in 1518 as a guest
of the Safavid Shah, Ismail I. In response to his
PROVENANCE: loyalty, Shah Isma’il offered an engagement
London trade by 1990
between his daughter and Shaykh Ibrahim’s
eldest son, Prince Khalil. In 1523, Isma’il Shah
25 married a daughter of Shaykh Ibrahim. There has
only ever been a handful of royal seals bearing
the name of a ruler at public auction. An imperial
carved rock crystal seal of shah Sulayman Safavi
was sold in these Rooms, 25 April 2015, lot 126.
26
A NEAR PAIR OF KHORASAN SILVER-INLAID BRONZE DISHES
NORTH EAST IRAN, 13TH CENTURY
Each of concave circular form with thickened lip, rising through a sloping Although a number of these small dishes are known, their purpose is not
section in the centre and bulbous knop supporting a flanged boss, the internal clear. One has been displayed as the cover to a bowl, whose decoration it
surface richly engraved and inlaid with silver confronted figures, many with
very closely resembles, but which did not arrive with the bowl (Chevaux
musical instruments, a band of similarly inlaid decoration composed of
et Cavaliers arabes, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 2002, no.157, p.187). In his
running animals around the base of the knop, rope-like pattern around the rim,
discussion of an example in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Melikian-
silver well preserved
Chirvani suggests that they are not covers of jugs, since that form is known,
Each 3½in. (9cm.) diam.
but cannot suggest another use (A.S.Melikian-Chirvani, Islamic Metalwork
£8,000-12,000 US$9,200-14,000 from the Iranian World, 8th-18th Centuries, London, 1982, no.49, pp.121-2). An
€9,200-14,000
unusually fine example with traces of gold inlay was sold in these Rooms 17
April 2007, lot 74.
PROVENANCE:
Anon. sale, Christie's, London, 23 October 2007, lot 135.

*27
A STEEL TURBAN HELMET
WESTERN IRAN OR ANATOLIA, 15TH CENTURY
The body rising to a central finial, straight skull rising to a swollen band with Helmet” in Metropolitan Museum Journal, volume 18, 1983, pp.97-104). Our
thirteen flutes, struck with the Saint Irene Arsenal mark, applied steel bands helmet belongs to this second group with similar examples in the Kienbusch
around the lower edge, attachment for nose bar and seven loops to attach a Collection (No.207) and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Inv.50.87)
mail aventail, a hook-shaped fitting riveted to the swollen band dating to the late 15 century. Although discerning between the Aqqoyunlu
th
10in. (25.5cm.) high
th
and Shirvani workshops of the 15 century is very difficult (op.cit., p.103),
£7,000-10,000 US$8,100-11,000 a helmet of similar form, with swirling – rather than vertical – ribs is in the
€8,000-11,000 Askeri Museum, Istanbul (No.5911) and inscribed to Farrukhsiar Shirvanshah.
Stamped on the helmet is the mark of Saint Irene, the church situated in the
Turban helmets are a form that were worn through a wide area of the Islamic
grounds of the Topkapi Palace which became an arsenal for the Ottoman
26 world, although predominantly in Iran and Anatolia, from the mid-14 until
th
janissaries. A home for Ottoman manufactured arms and armour, the arsenal
th
the early-16 century. Originally our helmet would have had a chainmail
was also a repository for arms and military trophies taken by the Ottomans
aventail below with the small hook on the skull of the helmet intended to hold
from foreign campaigns. Many turban helmets of our form are found with this
this up when not in use. In his discussion on these helmets David Alexander
mark on and no doubt taken as booty from Ottoman successes in Anatolia
makes a distinction of two main types: taller tapering helmets and shorter
and the Caucasus. Many pieces would then enter European collections after
more bulbous helmets. The former group he categorises as more Ottoman
the armoury was cleared under order of Sultan Abdul Mecid in 1839.
and the latter as the “Aqqoyunlu/Shirvani” type (D. Alexander, “The Turban
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32 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty 33
s a
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heck Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of this catalogue.
fee are also payable if the lot has a tax or λ symbol. Check Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of this catalogue.