A silver-inlaid cast brass incense burner, probably Mosul, 1240-60

cast in two parts, the cylindrical body on three legs with pronounced feet, inside is a shallow saucer which is integral to the body, the lid in the shape of a dome with a finial at its apex

some pitting and patination, hinge held together by copper wire, some rubbing, overall good condition, as viewed.
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As on other incense burners of this type the long tubular handle is missing; four rivets indicate where it was fixed. A hinge joining the lid to the body was added at a later date, covering part of the decoration, and the moulding around the rim of both parts has been cut back to accommodate it. Also at a later stage, a circular brass sheet with rosette in relief has been added to the base of the incense burner making its interior inaccessible. This sheet is inscribed with the name 'Muhammad' (in Arabic letters), perhaps the person responsible for the additions or a later owner. The number 4315 is written on the base and on a paper label inside the lid; presumably this is the inventory number of a European collection.

The incense burner has been pierced, engraved and inlaid with silver. The ground behind the sheet inlays has been recessed. The wire inlays were set into a single line of round indentations. The silver inlay is in unusually good condition: the silver almost all present with its original chased details still sharp.

The body of the vessel is decorated with three panels and two roundels between z-borders. At the centre of one panel is an enthroned figure, bearded, with a low crown or turban, sitting cross-legged with one hand on his knee and the other in front of his chest. He is flanked by two attendants holding a mace. The other two panels have attendants all facing this figure. They hold different objects. To his right there are four figures who hold a mace, a beaker, a sword and a lance. To his left are three figures: the first two hold a beaker and a lance, the third is empty-handed. The roundels each contain a cross-legged musician; one plays a lute and the other a harp. The space for the third roundel is occupied by an undecorated quatrefoil which would have been covered by the attachment plate of the missing handle.  The three legs each have a two-headed eagle and there is a palmette design on the foot. The saucer inside is bordered by a plait. The saucer itself is decorated with a design of intersecting triangles within a roundel surrounded by rays.

The lid also has three panels and roundels between z-borders. The panels each contain a pair of courtiers facing each other.  One holds a hawk and his partner holds its victim, a dead hare, and a napkin. Another holds a mace and his partner holds a dead bird. The last panel contains figures holding a lance and a mace. One roundel contains a cross-legged princely figure with one hand on his knee and the other holding a beaker. The roundels to either side of him contain musicians, one plays a two-ended drum, the other a zither. Above the figural decoration, rays point up towards the finial which is decorated with a leafy scroll.

All of the figures wear a three-quarter length tunic closing down the front with thin tiraz bands on the sleeves. The courtiers stand with one toe pointed which was the traditional posture of subservience before a prince at the Turkish courts of the 12th and 13th century. Apart from the prince, who wears a low crown or turban, the figures are without headgear, although the large haloes serve to emphasise their heads. Their facial features: joined eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, long straight nose and perfunctory mouth represent the ideal of beauty in the 13th century.

This is one of a group of about 40 surviving cast brass incense burners of similar shape and dimensions. These incense burners were first discussed at length by Aga-Oglu (see M. Aga-Oglu, 'About a type of Islamic incense burner' in The Art Bulletin 27, 1945, pp.28-45 with numerous illustrations). The earliest datable one, in the Keir Collection, bears the name of the Ayyubid Sultan al-Adil (reigned 1238-40) (see Fehérvári 1976, no.129, pp.103-104 and colour plate H).  They are likely to have been made in Mosul, the main production centre for inlaid metal work during the first half of the 13th century. An incense burner in the British Museum dated A.H. 641/A.D. 1243, is very close in style to the Blacas ewer made in Mosul in A.H. 629/A.D. 1232. Mosul is known to have sent inlaid brass vessels abroad as diplomatic gifts which could explain why one bears the name and titles of al-Adil (Ward 1993, figs.59-61 and p.84).

In shape and decoration, the incense burner is very similar to the earliest incense burners in the group. These feature rounded legs, a ridge around the apex of the done, double discs on the finial and triple ridges on their ankles and the pierced holes in the lid have been carefully cut away to outline the decoration. They also display a similar range of courtly figures and musicians, double-headed eagles, pearl and z-borders.  So, it is probably contemporary with the Keir and British Museum incense burners, and can be dated to the 1240s or 1250s.

The function of these incense burners is confirmed by an inscription on one in the British Museum: 'Within me is hellfire but without float the perfumes of Paradise'. But although their exterior shape resembles traditional incense burners, the deep containers for coals and incense have been replaced by shallow saucers richly inlaid with precious metal, which are unlikely to have contained burning coals. The saucers may have held perfumed candles instead. (For a full discussion of the form and function of these incense burners, see R. Ward 'Incense and incense burners in Mamluk Egypt and Syria' in Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, 1990-1991, pp.67-82).

Incense was always expensive and these richly decorated vessels would have been used by the wealthiest members of society. The scene pictured on this incense burner of an enthroned prince surrounded by his attendants holding symbols of office and musicians probably reflects some of the actual scenes that surrounded it when used and displayed within the palace of its owner. Similar images are found in the dedicatory frontispieces to contemporary illustrated manuscripts such as the Kitab al-Aghani, painted in Mosul (see R. Ettinghausen, Arab Painting, Geneva, 1962, p.65). Another example on metalwork can be seen on the shoulder of a ewer dated A.H. 640/A.D. 1242 in the Keir collection (see Fehérvári 1976, no.131, colour plate I). But of course the most famous metalwork versions of this image are found on the later Baptistère de Saint Louis and Vasselot bowl by Muhammad ibn al-Zayn in the Louvre (see Atil 1981, nos.20 & 21, pp.74-79).

This lot comes with a full metallurgical report from Dr Peter Northover of the University of Oxford.