A Mamluk engraved brass canteen with composite blazon, EGYPT OR SYRIA, 15TH CENTURY

oblong section with vertical walls, the body profusely decorated with scrolling cartouches of geometric and curvilinear motifs, with central cartouches of Arabic calligraphy on both faces, all set between two further bands of decoration consisting of scrolling cartouches of interlocking geometric motifs, the blazon with cartouches of calligraphy in the four corners set against further cartouches of interlocking geometric motifs and a further calligraphic band enclosing a cup shaped finial set against a background of floral motifs

inscriptions

in the band on the lid: Two Arabic quatrains,

in the cartouches round the shoulder: An Arabic quatrain and:

mimma 'umila bi-rasm al-maqarr al-'ali al-sayfi tanam birdi amara khazindar al-maqarr al-atabaki atabak al-'asakir 'azza ansarahu

'one of what was made for His High, al-Sayfi Tanam Birdi, commissioned by the treasurer of the al-Atabaki, Commander-in-Chief, may his victories be glorious'

in the cartouches round the body:

mimma 'umila bi-rasm al-ma[qa]rr al-ashraf al-'ali al-mawlawi al-amiri/ al-kabiri al-sayfi tanam birdi al-maliki al-ashrafi 'azza ansarahu

'one of what was made for His Noble, the High, the Lordly, the Great Amir, al-Sayfi Tanam Birdi [an officer of] al-Malik al-Ashraf, may his victories be glorious.'

Leo Mayer has published an inscription over the window in the mosque of Jami' al-Suwafa in Damascus with the name Tanam al-Ashrafi as Commander designate of a Thousand and Second Chamberlain in Damascus, which is dated 897 (AD 1491-2) (see. L. A. Mayer, Saracenic Heraldry, reprint 1999, p. 215).