CANDLESTICK BEARING THE NAME OF AN OFFICER OF THE SULTAN AL- - Lot 23

CANDLESTICK BEARING THE NAME OF AN OFFICER OF THE SULTAN AL-NASIR MUHAMMAD IBN QALAW'UN (1285-1341) EGYPT, MAMLOUK ART, FIRST HALF OF THE 14th CENTURY Composed of a truncated cone-shaped base, the shoulder flat and slightly concave around the cylindrical neck with ringed spout and hemmed opening. The decoration is engraved with a broad band of a mobilized titulature in thuluth, punctuated by roundels containing the name of Al-Malik al-Nasir, engraved in reserve in a cartouche, surrounded by flying ducks. The neck features epigraphic registers, interrupted by lotus flowers in roundels. The wick is engraved with ribbons of swirling foliage, criss-crossed around rosettes. Inscriptions on the base: Al-janâb al-karim al-'âlî al-mawlaw / î al-mâliki al-muhtaramî al-makhdûmî al-'â / limî al-Badr(î) al-Badr (al-kifalî) al-kafîlî al-Nâsirî. His most noble Excellency, royal, elevated, the possessor, the well-respected, the well-served, (affiliated with) the scholar, al-Badri al-Badr, the responsible (guarantor, supports the king), al-Nasir. Inscription in the roundels: Al-Malik Al-Nâsir. King al-Nasir. Inscription on the collar: Al-janâb al-'â / lî al-mawlawî. His High Royal Excellency. Height: 26 cm. Former private collection since the early 1980s. Paris, Artcurial "Art d'Orient" sale, December 17, 2015, lot 118. Private collection, Paris. The name Badr on our candlestick is also found on a vase and candlestick made for officers in the service of the Mamluk Sovereign, Muhammad Al-Nasir (d. 1341): Badr al-Din Baktut al-Qaramâni and Badr al-Din Bilbak al-'Imâdi (WIET G., Catalogue général du Musée Arabe du Caire, Objets en cuivre, Musée National de l'art arabe, Caire, 1984, pp. 192-200, cat. 133, 173). The blazon with the name "al-Malik al-Nasîr" is very close to another on a candlestick published in: Doris Behrens-abouseif, Metalwork from the arab world and the Mediterranean, Thames & Hudson 25 November 2021, pp. 145-147, Cat. 44). The form and decoration of our candlestick are almost identical to those of another candlestick from the period of al-Malik al-Nasîr Muhammad (d. 1341), published in: TRESORS DE L 'ISLAM GENEVE 1985. Published by Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd, London, 1985, p. 278, cat. 288.