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A Cut-Brass Calligraphic ‘Alam Signed by Muhammad Ma’sum, India, Deccan, dated DHU Al-HIJJA 1095/November-December 1684 AD
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 GBP
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Description
- brass
of drop form surmounted by a palmette, two cartouches with cut openwork decoration of elegant cursive calligraphy on a ground of spiralling and foliated scrollwork, the walls incised with a large calligraphic inscription on a punched ground, with an inscribed silver cartouche affixed between the two openwork roundels and an applied brass inscriptive plaque near the base, framed by two arms each terminating in a stylised dragon's head with fierce open mouths and crests, fitted on a sphere and mounted on a stand
Condition
In good overall condition, a few light scuffs and scratches to surface, two small drill holes, one to each side of serpent-head terminals, small crack to side near serpent head, another small crack between two petals on the upper terminal minor areas of oxidisation and rubbing consistent with age and use, as viewed.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
inscriptions
On the front:
In the top openwork cartouche: ‘O the Judge of needs!’
In the lower openwork cartouche: ‘O the one sufficient in matters!’
In the border: Call to God to bless the Fourteen Innocents.
On the brass applied near the base, signed as:
‘Work of Master (ustad) Muhammad Ma’sum, the goldsmith (zargar) from Langarud’
On the reverse:
In the border: Call to God to bless The Fourteen Innocents.
On the brass applied near the base, dated as:
‘On the month of dhi-hajja (sic) the year one thousand and ninety five (November-December 1684)’
On the applied tin cartouches (on both sides), a Persian quatrain on the martyrdom of Imam Hasan.
Cut metal banners or 'alams such as this one were originally used under the Safavid dynasty in Persia during battles and processions and in religious sanctuaries. Most likely produced in India, but by a Persian craftsman, this 'alam was probably a standard of royalty and would have been displayed in public on important occasions.
Stylised dragon-heads are often found on seventeenth and eighteenth-century Deccani 'alams (for examples see: Zebrowski 1997, p.325, nos. 531 & 532). The form was developed in Iran during the Timurid period and was derived from a Chinese prototype (Lentz and Lowry 1989, p.223). The dragon heads on the present 'alam have a serpentine quality that is characteristic of Deccani interpretations of this motif.
On the front:
In the top openwork cartouche: ‘O the Judge of needs!’
In the lower openwork cartouche: ‘O the one sufficient in matters!’
In the border: Call to God to bless the Fourteen Innocents.
On the brass applied near the base, signed as:
‘Work of Master (ustad) Muhammad Ma’sum, the goldsmith (zargar) from Langarud’
On the reverse:
In the border: Call to God to bless The Fourteen Innocents.
On the brass applied near the base, dated as:
‘On the month of dhi-hajja (sic) the year one thousand and ninety five (November-December 1684)’
On the applied tin cartouches (on both sides), a Persian quatrain on the martyrdom of Imam Hasan.
Cut metal banners or 'alams such as this one were originally used under the Safavid dynasty in Persia during battles and processions and in religious sanctuaries. Most likely produced in India, but by a Persian craftsman, this 'alam was probably a standard of royalty and would have been displayed in public on important occasions.
Stylised dragon-heads are often found on seventeenth and eighteenth-century Deccani 'alams (for examples see: Zebrowski 1997, p.325, nos. 531 & 532). The form was developed in Iran during the Timurid period and was derived from a Chinese prototype (Lentz and Lowry 1989, p.223). The dragon heads on the present 'alam have a serpentine quality that is characteristic of Deccani interpretations of this motif.