Moore was particularly interested in lavish works made by mixing and inlaying metals, techniques that artists in the Middle East had developed to a high art centuries earlier for the upper echelons of society. Blending complex geometric and vegetal compositions with fine calligraphy or expressive imagery, they created polychromatic effects comparable to those achieved in painting. The objects here hail from three different Islamic regions around 1100–1400, when the art form flourished.
The monumental tray, once used to serve food during festivities, exemplifies the later work of the school. Signs of virtuosic craftsmanship include medallions that lend structure to the composition and figures achieved through fine incisions applied to the inlaid foils of silver.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Tray
Date:1250–1300
Geography:Attributed to Egypt or Syria
Medium:Brass; inlaid with silver and black compound
Dimensions:H. 1 1/8 in. (2.8 cm) Diam. 29 1/4 in. (74 cm)
Classification:Metal
Credit Line:Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891
Accession Number:91.1.603
Tray
Elite households in the medieval Islamic world employed large circular trays worked in sophisticated inlaid metal to display and serve food and drinks during various courtly events. These trays were either placed directly on the floor or sat on tray stands; many of the larger extant examples bear holes—here, six small ones pierced between the circular medallions in the center—that suggest the trays could have been attached to the stand.[1] Depictions of these objects in courtly manuscripts and an example from a royal palace indicate that they were also associated with lighting: either metal fittings for candles were attached to the holes, or candlesticks were placed directly on the tray.[2] The flames of the burning candles, reflected on the surface of the tray, would have enhanced the brilliance of the setting.
The figural repertoire on this tray emphasizes the festive royal context, while the virtuosic craftsmanship of the inlaid ornament highlights the quality of the piece. In the central circular reserve, six medallions frame five musicians, dancers, and feasting figures along with the ruler, who appears seated cross-legged on a takht throne. On the outer band of ornament, the theme of music and dance continues, but is broadened to include animals, such as a dromedary and a feline, as well as combats between birds and other beasts symbolizing power, protection, and authority.[3] Around the rim, a lavish cursive Arabic inscription set against a scrolling floriated background praises and glorifies the owner with his name and honorific titles: the Mamluk sultan al-Malik al-Muzaffar Shams al-dunya wa’d-din Yusuf of the Rasulid branch of Yemen.
Deniz Beyazit in [Higgins Harvey 2021]
Footnotes:
1. Some of the holes in this tray have been filled. The significant size and weight of such trays would either require several tray stands as a support or placement on a wooden tray with a larger diameter. See Kjeld von Folsach. Art from the World of Islam in the David Collection. Copenhagen: David Collection, 2001, p. 80, no. 42.
2. See "Bahram Gur and the Indian Princess in the Dark Palace on Saturday," from a Haft Paikar (Seven Portraits) of the Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami (MMA 13.228.13.4), where a pair of candlesticks is placed on circular trays, while other larger trays hold food or wine bottles that are similar in shape to a pair in the Moore Collection (cats. 132 and 133 [MMA 91.1.170 and 91.1.197] in this volume). In the Dolmabahce Palace, Istanbul, eight candle fittings are inserted into a large circular tray made of ceramics; see Altun, Ara and Belgin Demirsar Arli. Anadulo topraginin hazenesi cini: Osmanli donemi. Istanbul: Kale Grubu Kültür Yayinlari, 2008, p. 63, figs. 67–69.
3. See "The Courtly Cycle" chapter in Canby, Sheila R., Deniz Beyazit, Martina Rugiadi, and A.C.S. Peacock. Court and Cosmos: The Great Age of the Seljuqs. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2016, pp. 72–165; on animal combats, see Martina Rugiadi in ibid., pp. 227–28, nos. 141, 142, and Sheila R. Canby in ibid., p. 241, no. 152.
Inscription: On outer rim: inscription gives name and titles of the Sultan al-Malik al-Muzaffar Shams ad-dunya wa'd-din Yusuf, reigned AH 647–94/ 1250–95 AD, a Rasulid of Yemen.
Translation of outermost inscription, in naskh, by Yassir al-Tabba (1978): Glory to our lord, the sultan, the king, the victorious, the wise, the just, the fighter for the faith, the conqueror, the defender of the outposts, the aided, the victorious, the aided to victory, sultan of Islam and the Muslims, defeater of the Kharijites and infidels, reviver of justice in the worlds, protector of the oppressed from the oppressor, destroyer of the cruel and the makers of corruption, defender of the abode of religion, sultan Arabs and non Arabs, destroyer of nations... king of the kings of time, Shahrman, hero of the world king of the two seas and the two honored Harams, the Sultan son of Sultan, the king, the aided to victory, the wise, the governor, the fighter for the faith, the defender of the outposts, the warrior, the victorious, the aided to victory, sultan of Islam and the Muslims, the sultan, the victorious king, the sun of the world and religion, Yusuf, may his victories be glorious and may his honor be multiplied
Remaining inscriptions in interlaced pseudo-kufic.
Edward C. Moore (American), New York (until d. 1891; bequeathed to MMA)
New York. Jewish Museum, New York. "The Cairo Geniza: Jews & Muslims in the Mediterranean World 800–1500," January 1, 1997–October 12, 1997, no catalogue.
Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. "Earth, Sea, and Sky: Nature in Western Art—Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 6, 2012–January 4, 2013, no. 62.
Beijing. National Museum of China. "Earth, Sea, and Sky: Nature in Western Art—Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 8–May 9, 2013, no. 62.
Ward, Rachel. "In: Art, Trade And Culture in the Islamic World and Beyond: From the Fatimids to the Mughals. Eds. Alison Ohta et al.." In Mean or Green? Mamluk Vessels Recycled for the Rasulid Sultans. London: Gingko, 2016. pp. 46–47, not ill.
Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. "Masterpieces of the Metropolitan Museum of Art." In Earth, Sea, and Sky: Nature in Western Art. Tokyo: Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 2012. no. 62, pp. 116, 233, ill. (color, b/w).
Beyazit, Deniz, Maryam Ekhtiar, and Sheila R. Canby. Collecting Inspiration : Edward C. Moore at Tiffany & Co., edited by Medill Higgins Harvey. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2021. no. 112, pp. 177–78, ill.
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