Candlestick, embossed and engraved brass
Eastern Iran or Afghanistan; 2nd half of 12th century
H: 33; Diam: 40 cm
Of all the embossed metal objects that were common in Afghanistan in the second half of the 12th century, conical candlesticks of this type were the most monumental. The most richly decorated were inlaid with copper and silver, and their animal decorations might almost take the form of free sculptures. This more modest piece has friezes in fairly low relief, with running and seated lions and hexagonal bosses with hares, harpies, or leaf ornaments.
The Linden-Museum in Stuttgart has a piece that is very similar to ours. It was dedicated to a named, but unidentified, highly placed Ghurid official and dated Rabi I, 561 H, which corresponds to 1166.
Inv. no. 27/1971
Published in:
Christie's, London, 29/6-1971, lot 143;
Christie's review of the year 1970/71, p. 320;
André Leth: Davids Samling. Islamisk kunst = The David Collection. Islamic Art, København 1975, pp. 71-72;
Assadullah Souren Melikian-Chirvani: “Les bronzes du Khorassan. II” in Studia Iranica, 4, 1975, pp. 64-65;
Assadullah Souren Melikian-Chirvani: “Bucklers, covers og cymbals?” in Robert Elgood (ed.): Islamic ars and armour, London 1979, note 30;
Eva Baer: Metalwork in medieval Islamic art, Albany 1983, note 44;
Esin Atil, W. T. Chase, Paul Jett: Islamic metalwork in the Freer Gallery of Art, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington 1985, p. 98 (no photo);
Kjeld von Folsach: Islamic art. The David Collection, Copenhagen 1990, cat.no. 319;
Kjeld von Folsach: Fabelvæsner fra Islams Verden, Davids Samling, København 1991, cat.no. 22;
Kjeld von Folsach: Art from the World of Islam in The David Collection, Copenhagen 2001, cat.no. 480;
Sheila S. Blair: Text and image in Medieval Persian art, Edinburgh 2014, pp. 62-63;
Alicia Walker: “The Beryozovo cup: a Byzantine object at the crossroads of the twelfth-century Eurasia” in Christina Normore (ed.): Re-assessing the global turn in medieval art history, Leeds 2018, p. 132 og pls. 6.14-6.15;
Elizabeth C. Kelly: Zoomorphic incense burners of Medieval Khurasan: a study of Islamic metalwork, Oxford 2024, fig. 6.24A, fig. 3.5K;
