Safavid engraved tinned copper bowl,
Persia, late 17th century
of deep hemispherical form with...

Safavid engraved tinned copper bowl,
Persia, late 17th century

of deep hemispherical form with everted rim, on a short, splayed foot, engraved around the body with seven decorative bands on hatched ground, including two bands with calligraphic inscriptions, four with entwined split-palmettes and floral scrolls, and one large band with figural courtly scenes on a foliage background, numbered and stamped on the underside

Inscriptions:

Around the upper band:
a first set of well-known Persian verses: 'In the desert of my love for you…' (see A.S. Melikian Chirvani, Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World, London, 1982, p.330, no.151), and another set referring to Layla and Majnun. These poems are followed by the first hemistich of a couplet found on a bowl in the Venice Museum Civico Correr (inv.no.Cl XI, no.778, see Eredita dell’Islam. Arte Islamic in Italia, Venice, 1993, p.432-3, cat.279), and another hemistich that likens the owner to the Persian king Jamshid.

Around the base:
verses from a ghazal of Jami.

On the tambourine being played by one of the figures is the word: da'ira (circle), which also appears in one of the poems around the rim.

On the underside:
the letters a, h, m, stamped.

The intricate figural scene and elegant epigraphy invoke popular Persian themes of courtly pleasures, bound to garden and wine imagery. Besides a varied range of animals, the central section displays scenes reminiscent of the story of Layla and Majnun. A bowl with similar depictions was sold at Christie’s, 28 October 2021, lot 26. A similar form is illustrated in Melikian-Chirvani 1982, pp.335, no.154. 

Published: Sotheby's 26 April 2023, Lot 92