A MONUMENTAL BRONZE ROYAL TENT SUPPORT (ZHIGRI), PERSIA OR CENTRAL ASIA, LATE 12TH CENTURY

Ex-private family collection, since 1958.

Formerly believed to be part of a series of colossal candle-stands, the present monumental specimen of cast bronze is in fact a zhigri, or royal tent support. As recognised by Anatoly Ivanov of the State Hermitage Museum, its function is illustrated by various miniature paintings of the Timurid, Safavid and Ottoman periods (Ivanov 2008, pp.381-5). In outdoor royal scenes decorating illuminated manuscripts of texts such as the Shahnameh and Sa'di's Bustan, zhigri can be found bridging adjoining wooden poles to support heavy imperial tents.

Surviving examples of these supports are held in the collections of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the State Museum of Oriental Arts in Moscow, the Historical Museum in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and the Institute of Archaeology of the Kazakh Republic. The Central Asian origin of zhigri suggests that they were used by powerful nomadic tribes such as the Karakhanids, whose sophisticated artistic production was influenced by neighbouring Seljuks and Ghaznavids during the twelfth century.

Masterfully engraved with graceful lions prowling and running around the support, hemmed by friezes of thuluth inscriptions proclaiming perpetual glory, the present work is an important example of medieval Islamic metalwork, belonging to the group of known Khurasan bronzes. The decoration can be related to fine examples of twelfth-century Iranian metalwork, such as the Khurasan bucket of cast bronze in the British Museum (inv. no.1953.2.17.1) and a Nishapur ewer in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no.38.40.240).

For Ottoman examples in the Topkapi Palace Museum, see N. Atasoy, Otag-i Humayun: The Ottoman Imperial Tent Complex, Istanbul, 2000, nos.81, 83, 84.