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Vessel with Anthropomorphic Inscriptions. Northeastern Iran, first half of the 13th century. Brass inlaid with silver, chased and engraved decoration, 5 1/2 in. (14 cm) high. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc., 86.227.123
This remarkable vessel is typical of metalwork production in the northeastern Iranian province of Khurasan in the late twelfth or early thirteenth century, a time when artisans working in the inlay technique (in which objects made of relatively inexpensive materials, such as brass or bronze, are decorated with the more costly silver or gold) produced some of the most impressive metalwork objects ever created.
This inlaid vessel contains six registers of ornament, including epigraphic, figural, and geometric motifs. The top panel, around the neck of the vessel, consists of a band of Arabic inscriptions, which reads "Glory, success, dominion, safety, happiness, care, and long life to the owner." This inscription is in the naskhi cursive Arabic script; however, finials of vertical letter forms terminate in human heads while descending letters display legs and feet. This creative form of naskhi also appears on the epigraphic band around the foot of the vessel, which calls for "Glory, success, happiness, safety, intercession, and long life to the owner." The second register from the top contains cheetahs, dogs, and rabbits chasing each other against a background of scrolling vines. The main band, around the protruding body of the vessel, depicts the twelve signs of the zodiac in roundels superimposed on a ground of geometric interlace. The fourth band from the top is similar in decoration to the second register, containing the animal chase, and the fifth band includes depictions of mythical creatures, perhaps harpies, in roundels set against a geometric interlace background.
Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum