A MONUMENTAL TINNED COPPER MAMLUK BASIN
Egypt or Syria, late 15th century

Round, flattened base with straight, tapering walls, engraved in the typical late-Mamluk style with cartouches filled with densely interlaced vegetal tendrils, bold thuluth inscriptions extolling the emir, and lobed medallions bearing the Mamluk emblem of the pen-case (devit). According to Mayer, the pen-case emblem was used by various officers, beginning with secretaries of lower rank at court. The typical pen-case consists of four elements: the ink-pot, the sand-pot and the starch-paste pot, a receptacle for thread (used to clean pens), and finally two or three compartments for reeds (cf. Mayer L.A., Saracenic Heraldry, 1933, p. 12). This basin represents a characteristic type of metalwork produced shortly before the Ottoman takeover. The tinned copper material reflects the economic pressures and scarcity of precious metals that marked the final phase of the Mamluk period. Comparable examples of late Mamluk tinned-copper pieces can be found in public collections; see Atil E., Renaissance of Islam: Art of the Mamluks, 1981, pp. 106–7, no. 38.

23cm high, 38cm diameter, 47cm at its widest

For a related example on the subject see: Sotheby's London, 6 April 2011, lot 324.