THREE ENGRAVED CARNELIAN INTAGLIO SEALS
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE GLYPTOLOGY COLLECTOR
India and Qajar Iran, dated to the late 18th and 19th century

Comprising a square, table-cut carnelian seal, engraved with three overlapping and intertwined lines of Arabic thuluth script reading the common invocation to Allah known as bismillah (Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim, "In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful"), dated at the bottom 1210 AH (1795 AD); another of oval shape, engraved on both sides, with nominal inscriptions, on one side featuring an elegant single line of thuluth script reading the name Hasan and the date 1281 AH (1865 AD), on the reverse a cruder double line nasta'liq inscription reading the name Hajji al-Hasani Hamaladad (?) and the date 1278 AH (1861 AD); and another nominal seal, of narrow rectangular shape, dated 1190 AH (1776 AD), surrounded by a rosette vegetal festoon.

16.5mm x 14.9mm
19.5mm x 17mm
15.2mm x 11.1mm

Seals were considered very valuable possessions by their owners and as such, they were very rarely discarded, even once their owners ceased to use them. They were often passed down to the next generation in the family, but occasionally, they were also traded and collected by acquaintances or individuals of similar rank, profession or social class. An interesting example of this practice can be seen in the oval double-inscribed seal in the present lot.