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Basin Inscribed with Honorifics in Arabic Thuluth Script

Arts of the Islamic World

On View: Arts of the Islamic World, 2nd floor

Following the fall of the Fatimid Dynasty in 1171 master potters left Cairo in search of more favorable environments, which they found in Syria and later in Iran. With the advent of Salah al-Din, known in the West as Saladin, in the mid-twelfth century, the Ayyubid Dynasty gained control of most of the Levant and Egypt. This change of regime marked the end of Shiism in Egypt, and with the return to Sunnism began a trend away from the highly naturalistic forms of Fatimid art. In the wake of the takeover by the Mamluk Dynasty in Egypt and the Levant in the mid-thirteenth century a remarkable school of metalworkers began to produce large-scale brass and bronze objects for the Mamluk rulers and their many viziers. Majestic calligraphy, heraldic blazons, and sumptuous inlaying with silver and copper are among the hallmarks of the distinctive metalwork of the Mamluks.

MEDIUM Brass, incised, punched, and inlaid with silver
  • Place Made: Egypt
  • DATES mid 14th century
    DYNASTY Mamluk
    DIMENSIONS 7 1/16 x 16 15/16 in. (18 x 43 cm) Base (diam): 12 3/4 in. (32.4 cm)  (show scale)
    INSCRIPTIONS In Arabic, Read by Abdullah Ghouchani
    ACCESSION NUMBER 73.94.4
    CREDIT LINE Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles K. Wilkinson
    PROVENANCE Prior to 1973, provenance not yet documented; by 1973, acquired by Charles K. Wilkinson and Irma Bezold Wilkinson (Mrs. Charles K. Wilkinson) of New York, NY; October 16, 1973, gift of Charles K. Wilkinson and Irma Bezold Wilkinson to the Brooklyn Museum.
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    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Arts of the Islamic World, 2nd floor
    CAPTION Basin Inscribed with Honorifics in Arabic Thuluth Script, mid 14th century. Brass, incised, punched, and inlaid with silver, 7 1/16 x 16 15/16 in. (18 x 43 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles K. Wilkinson, 73.94.4. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 73.94.4_PS2.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 73.94.4_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2009
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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