Page 206 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

of gold with minutely chased arabesques on a rated with seated drinkers or winged peris, the settings. Below, the zinc shoulders are worked in
nielloed ground, both originally embossed with a latter with pairs of animals, in silhouette but relief, with panels filled with phoenixes and other
turquoise nipple. Along the bar that joins the two worked in relief, with heavy chasing emphasized animals, alone or in combat on ring-punched
barrels at the base and on the body of the inkwell by niello or black paste. At the rim and base are grounds, and encrusted with turquoise and
are inscribed verses in a fine rounded script. half-cartouches filled with peris and chinoiserie emeralds, though many of the latter are missing.
The case bears no craftsman's name. The exten- phoenixes. The shoulders on the narrow sides of the flask
sive use of nielloed gold suggests comparison with The ground is of flowering Prunus branches are covered with openwork gold panels encrusted
the zinc flask from Topkapi (cat. 98), which may inlaid in gold with flying birds, the blossoms with turquoise and rubies with dragons, over a
confidently be assigned to Tabriz, around 1500, inlaid with tiny emeralds and turquoises in now matt ground. On the broader sides the gold over-
but certain features, like the finely worked silver mostly missing claw mounts. The minuteness of lay is of oblong panels of finely chased arabesque
cloisons of the openwork, recall traditions from the work and the extraordinary contrast between on a nielloed ground. Similar plaques, also
farther East, for example the court of Husayn interior and exterior show the piece to be of the encrusted with turquoise and rubies, fill the nar-
Bayqara (r. 1470-1506) at Herat, even though the highest quality. Such vessels are represented in rower sides at mid-height. Below these are open-
details of the floral ornament make it most proba- faithful detail in Aqqoyunlu and early Safavid work gold panels with dragons and phoenixes, on
ble that the place of manufacture was Istanbul. If paintings from Tabriz. a bluish ground and encrusted with turquoise and
crafted in Istanbul, the pen case must certainly The convex cover and stopper of the drinking rubies. On the flattened sides are large pointed
have been the work of one of Bayazid n's so-called flask are both gold and finely engraved with oval gold medallions with finely chased arabesque
c
"Persian" ( Acem) goldsmiths, whose work is arabesques on a nielloed ground. The neck is on a nielloed ground, similarly encrusted. At the
described by Menavino, a slave in the Topkapi plated with beaten gold, with relief decoration foot are half-cartouches in gold.
Saray for some years. In some later lists of palace enhanced with niello on a ring-punched ground The use of zinc for drinking vessels is at first
craftsmen, these goldsmiths are stated to have and encrusted with turquoise and rubies in claw surprising. There is little evidence for its use in
been recruited in Tabriz in the 14805. The verse
cartouches by an unidentified author, in Persian
but not easily legible, may well be the work of the
patron who commissioned this pen case or per-
haps the patron of a prototype from which this
one was copied. This leaves the attribution wide
open, however, for Husayn Bayqara, the Safavid
c
Shah Isma il i, and Bayazid n's brother, Cem
Sultan, were all noted poets, and their collected
works survive in several versions. Identification of
the patron must, therefore, await the decipher-
ment of the verses. j. M. R.

98-99
FLASK AND CUP

c. 1500
Iranian, Aqqoyunlu Turcoman
cast zinc, gold, turquoise, rubies, and (cup only)
emeralds
3
3
cup height 4.3 fi /4J; rim diameter 14.6 ($ /4)
l
2
flask height 52 (2o /2); diameter 21 (8 /4)
references: Koseoglu 1987, no. 74 (cup), and
no. 75 (flask)
Topkapi Sarayi Muzesi, Istanbul
The cup and the accompanying flask were very
probably booty from Selim I's sack of Tabriz fol-
c
lowing his victory over the Safavid ruler, Isma il i,
at (^aldiran in 1514. The polished interior of the
cup, with thin openwork gold plaques laid over a
matt ground and encrusted with precious stones,
is spectacular enough, but the workmanship of the
exterior is even more virtuoso. The inlay consists
of openwork gold panels, six lobed pointed ovals,
and six oblong cartouches. The former are deco-

EUROPE AND THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD 205