A KHURASAN SILVER INLAID BRONZE BOWL, PERSIA, EARLY 13TH CENTURY; A SILVER INLAID BRASS BOWL, SYRIA, 15TH CENTURY; AND A KHURASAN SILVER INLAID BRONZE JUG, EASTERN PERSIA, EARLY 13TH CENTURY

the Khurasan bowl of hemispherical form, decorated around the rim with a band of cursive calligraphy with benedictory phrases, the body with a series of lobed cartouches enclosing arabesques separated by almond-shaped panels; the Syrian bowl of almost hemispherical form with flattened base, incised and inlaid in silver and black with interlacing geometric cartouches filled with arabesque scrolls; the jug with a squat bulbous body and narrow frieze of ribbing around the centre, on a raised splayed foot and with a broad cylindrical neck with inlaid and incised decoration of a band of cursive calligraphy with benedictory phrases and two kufic bands

Khurasan brass bowl and Syrian brass bowl:  Kevorkian Collection, New York

The finely-worked Khurasan bowl may have originally been one of a group of footed bowls. The elegant calligraphy and sophisticated decoration are in keeping with the treatment of other examples from this group, such as that in the Victoria and Albert Museum (see Melikian Chirvani 1982, p.119, no.46). The Khurasan silver-inlaid jug is similar in form to a Khurasani piece in the V&A (ibid., p.120, no.47).