Box
Bowl-shaped box and cover made from hammered brass sheet, part soldered and then chased and decorated with inlaid silver.

Copyright

Work in the public domain
Photo © Courtauld
by-nc

Maker

(metalworker)
15th century (Life dates)

Title

Box
Bowl-shaped box and cover made from hammered brass sheet, part soldered and then chased and decorated with inlaid silver.

Date of Production

15th–16th century

Medium

brass and silver inlay

Dimensions

Height: 7.6 cm
Diameter: 15.8 cm

Object Number

O.1966.GP.204

Mode of Acquisition

Gambier-Parry, bequest, 1966

Credit

Courtauld Gallery, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Location

On display
IIIF logo Open IIIF manifest Open in IIIF viewer What is IIIF IIIF viewers

Keywords

Related Works (2)

Cover, engraved brass inlaid with silver O.1966.GP.204.1
Cover, engraved brass inlaid with silver Box, engraved brass inlaid with silver O.1966.GP.204.2
Box, engraved brass inlaid with silver

Label Text

This box is signed by the master craftsman Mahmud al-Kurdi, whose name appears on many pieces of export metalwork. Unique amongst his signed boxes, it bears his name (on the rim) in both Arabic and Roman script. The latter is a transliteration of the Arabic and reads the ‘work of the master Mahmud’. His pieces all feature densely inlaid patterns of thin silver wire.

Inscriptions

Inscription: signed by the artist in Arabic and Roman script : 'AMELLIMALEMAMVD' (work of the Master Mahmud)

Inscription: Arabic: The work of the master Mahmud who hopes for pardon/forgiveness from his Lord

Provenance

Information not yet known or updated

Exhibition History

Islamic Metalwork Touring Highlights Exhibition, Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro, 27/09/2019-12/01/2020; Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford, 18/01/2020-20/09/2020; Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford, 10/09/2020-10/01/2021; Holburne Museum, Bath, 17/05/2021-01/08/2021
Moments of Vision - Venice and the Islamic World, Metropolitan Museum of Art & New York & USA, 27/03/2007-08/07/2007
Moments of Vision - Venice and the Islamic World, L'Institut du Monde Arabe & Paris & France, 28/01/2007-22/04/2007
...More
Bellini and the East, National Gallery, London, 12/04/2006-25/06/2006
Bellini and the East, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, USA, 15/12/2005-26/03/2006
The Value of Art, Courtauld Gallery, London, 24/06/1999-30/08/1999
The Gambier-Parry Collection, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1967
...Less

Literature

The Value of Art, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1999

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