An engraved bronze inkwell, Andalusia, Southern Spain, 11th century

inscriptions:

Around the lid:

al-baraka wa'l-yumn wa'l-surur wa'l-sa'ada wa'l-salama wa

'Blessings and prosperity and joy and happiness and peace'

The decorative scheme of this inkwell can be situated within the tradition of early Andalusian metalwork. An inscription in Kufic decorates the lid of the inkwell and the form of the letters is distinctly rounded with terminals that curl upwards in the shape of hooks. Each facet of the octagonal body of the inkwell is decorated with scrolling tendrils, alternating between fully decorated panels and panels centred on suspension loops flanked above and below by scrolls.

Similar inscriptions are found on the boss of a large eleventh century multiple-wick oil lamp sold in these rooms, 26 October 2022, lot 93, as well as on the body of the renowned Pisa Griffin (see Dodds 1992, pp.216-7, no.15). An eleventh century Andalusian oil lamp in the David Collection, Copenhagen (inv. no.36/2001, previously sold at Christie’s, 16 October 2001, lot 225) also shares a comparable inscription and similar bold treatment of the tendrils and arabesques. Related arabesques are engraved on an eleventh century bronze quadruped in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence (inv. no.63c, see Curatola 1993, p.124, no.41).

The form of the inkwell with eight vertical walls and a flat lid is reprised in the later Andalusian artistic tradition; see, for example, pyxides produced in the twelfth to fifteenth centuries, 12^th – 15^th century, sold in these rooms, 10 June 2020, lot 87 and an example in brass, 8 October 2014, lot 92. Further examples from the fourteenth to sizteenth century which show a similar form include an inkwell in the David Collection (inv. no.16/2016) but this has naskh inscriptions typical of this period. The present inkwell, therefore, presents a rare, early example and a precursor to the works of the Nasrid period.