Chapter VII: Metal-Work (2)

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It is impossible to conclude this section without referring to the most famous example of figured Mōsil work in Europe, the so-called “Baptistery of St. Louis,” preserved in the Louvre.[72] This splendid bowl, which belongs in style to the class of Mōsil work of the thirteenth century, measures five feet in circumference, and is covered inside and out with bands of figures richly inlaid with silver, so that little of the copper is visible. On the band inside are two medallions, each enclosing a prince seated cross-legged on a throne with a high pinnacled back and two lions under the feet, and holding a wine-cup, attended by two servants, one on the left of the prince bearing a sword, the other on the right holding a casket inscribed دواة (“writing-case”). On the back of the throne is the inscription “made by Ibn-ez-Zeyn,” or (as it is written elsewhere on the bowl) عمل المعلم محمد ابن الزين غفر له, “Made by master Mohammad ibn-ez-Zeyn, save him!” The little cups held by the princes in the medallions are also signed with his name, as though they represented the vessels actually made in his workshop. Between the medallions are, on the one hand, six horsemen fighting with lances, bows, and maces; on the other, six huntsmen pursuing beasts and game. One carries a chītah on the crupper—one of those “leopardi qui sciant equitare” which the mighty hunter Frederic II. loved to see engraved upon his cups.

On the exterior a frieze of figures, ten centimètres high, is broken by four medallions, each containing a prince on horseback killing a bear, a lion, or a dragon, with lance or arrows. Between, his servants bring him arms, falcons, a slain antelope, dogs in leash, and leopards; one offers a flask and cup (inscribed with Ibn-ez-Zeyn’s name); another, a plate, inscribed انا بجفيز لحمل الطعام, “I hasten to bring food.” This frieze is bounded by two borders of beasts of the chase, divided by eight medallions, containing each a fleur-de-lis—probably a later European addition.

Such, in effect, is M. de Longpérier’s description of this magnificent work of art, to which the engravings inserted to illustrate his article do scant justice. Some of the zones are reproduced from these engravings fig. 82. Mr. W. Burges (in Sir Digby Wyatt’s _Metal Work_) says that the inlay of this bowl is effected by sinking the designs, especially deeply towards the edges, which are under-cut in a rebate, into which the edges of the inlaid plate are forced.

Before dismissing the Mōsil work, some reference must be made to the numerous mirrors which were made in that part, as well as elsewhere. They have been brought from Mesopotamia, Egypt, and especially from the South of Russia, where they are often found buried in the graves of Tartars. They are generally cast, with a good deal of silver in the bronze; in form they are round or square, and vary in size from two inches to a foot. Several are preserved in the British Museum, including those described by Reinaud, from the Duc de Blacas’ Collection. The ornament is on the back, and generally consists of little more than benedictory inscriptions; but one has a pair of Assyrian winged monsters, resembling Kalaūn’s winged kings.

(_Louvre._)]

II. EARLY SYRIAN WORK.

11. COFFRET.—_Brass, inlaid with silver and gold._ No date. [Late thirteenth century?]

Oblong, with sloping lid and silver chains to support it when open. It is covered with silver plates, chased with foliage, birds, and human- headed lions; and inlaid with medallions of designs and religious or unmeaning (العالعالعا) Arabic inscriptions in gold.

On the lid are eight large and small bosses. Height 5⅜ in., L. 5⁷⁄₁₆ in., W. 4 in.

[S. K. M., 459.-1873.]

Other specimens of the same sort are engraved in Prisse, where one is stated to have belonged to En Nāsir ibn Kalaūn.

12. WRITING-BOX.—_Brass, inlaid with silver and copper._ With hinge and hasp. No date. [Late thirteenth century?]

Oblong, with compartments for pens, ink, sand, &c.

Along the front, sides, and back of lower part, the signs of the zodiac are represented in combination with the planets, much as on No. 8, but with copper as well as silver inlay; the ground is of closely interwoven arabesques, inlaid and chased on the surface. On the bottom are four groups of four water-fowls each, with the heads together. On the lid, three medallions filled with key-pattern; arabesque ground; and border of decorative Kūfy inscription, nearly illegible. Inside the lid is an Arabic benedictory inscription and a Kūfy inscription on the top inside, with a central panel, and arabesque ground.

[B. M., A. W. Franks, 1884.]

13. WRITING-BOX.—_Brass, inlaid with silver and a little gold._ No date. [Late thirteenth century?]

Similar to 12, but with rounded ends; seventeen figures, riding, drinking, or playing on musical instruments, on the lid and bottom, inside and out; water-fowl confronted in pairs, back to back, and also a group of six; small medallions of key-pattern inlaid with gold wire.

[B. M., Burges, 19.]

14. WRITING-BOX.—_Brass, inlaid with silver and a little gold._ No date. [Late thirteenth century.]

Similar to 12 in shape and general treatment, but the leaves of the arabesque ground are now frequently converted into birds, and there are no figures: the two birds fighting beak to beak, in chased silver inlay, occur repeatedly, and also the key-pattern medallions in gold: Arabic benedictory inscriptions on top and round sides, and on bottom arabesques on a key-pattern ground: inside, fine rosettes of flowers and leaves like Damascus tiles, numerous key-pattern medallions in gold wire, flower-scroll borders, wild-fowl in panels of six, two Arabic benedictory inscriptions, and one circular radiating inscription, viz.:

الجناب العالى المولموى الكبيرى المالكى السيدى الهمامى الغياثى الدخرى

“His Highness exalted, lordly, great, royal, master, valiant, _Ghiyāthy_, munificent.”

[B. M., Burges, 20.]

It is dangerous to hazard conjecture as to the identity of the prince Ghiyāth-ed-dīn from whom this Mamlūk (retainer) took his epithet Ghiyāthy, for the name is not uncommon. It does not, however, occur among the Beny Zenky or the Bahry Mamlūks, and it is not unreasonable to suppose it to refer to either Edh-Dhāhir or El-‘Azīz, son and grandson of Saladin, who both bore the surname, and ruled Aleppo from 1186 to 1236. A retainer of the latter might easily be living in the second half of the thirteenth century.

15. BOX.—_Brass inlaid with silver and a little gold._ No date. [Late thirteenth century?]

Oblong, curved outline. Gold inlay chiefly distributed in key-pattern medallions and stars; silver in the confronted birds &c.; two groups of four birds within eightfoils on top; on front, two birds confronted and two beasts confronted within eightfoil, four times repeated, in alternation with arabesques likewise enclosed in eightfoils; ground of key-pattern; border of beasts of the chase.

[B. M., Henderson, 677.]

The last three pieces were in all probability made by the same school of artists. They began with the Mōsil-like system of zodiacal and other figures (but in a much more finished and delicate manner), adding the characteristic mark of this group—the gold-inlaid key-pattern medallions—and then omitted the figures and introduced more of the waterfowl that afterwards became most prominent on Mamlūk work, and also added the typical Damascus rosette ornament. These boxes constitute a class by themselves, and arguing from the Damascus ornament and the (probably) Aleppo epithet, I have provisionally termed it _Syrian_. A similar writing-box in the South Kensington Museum (8993-1863) has a long series of Mamlūk titles, none of which identify its provenance.

III. MAMLUK WORK.

The rule of the Mamlūks in Egypt extended from the middle of the 13th to the beginning of the 16th century; but there are hardly any examples of their metal-work of the 13th century, and the finest and most numerous class is that of the Nāsiry Amīrs, or courtiers of the Sultan En-Nāsir Mohammad, in the 14th century: this is the style which is meant when the term Mamlūk work is employed. Of the earlier century, besides the perfume-burner of Mōsil style already described bearing the name of Beysary, the chief specimen of 13th century work made in Cairo is the bronze plating of the doors of Beybars’ mosque _extra muros_.

16. DOOR-PLATING OF THE MOSQUE OF BEYBARS I., A.D. 1268.

These plaques are now in the South Kensington Museum, having been acquired in 1884 from M. de St. Maurice. They consist of a central boss, bearing the crest of Beybars, a lion passant (fig. 83), with twelve geometrically shaped plaques arranged round it, each of which contains an arabesque design in open filigree-work (fig. 84); a smaller boss surrounded by nine similar plaques; a knocker (fig. 85); and a border of open arabesque-work (fig. 86) and a portion of an Arabic inscription (الاتابكى الملكى الظاهرى) also in open work. Two other sets consist of a knocker, bosses, and geometrical plaques filled with arabesque designs in open work, arabesque borders, and a portion of a Korān inscription. The plaques form systems of 10 in these sets; of 12 and 9 in the first set. All these pieces are _cast_, not cut, and are therefore identical each with its fellows in the same system, in contrast to the usual character of Cairene work, where we seldom find two patterns alike. The arabesques are, however, very free and flowing, and the appearance of the numerous plaques, fastened all over the door by ribbed studs, must have been highly effective. The mosque where these doors once hung was built by Sultan Beybars, in the Huseynīya quarter of Cairo, in 665-7 (A.D. 1266-8), and contains many remarkable features.

(_South Kensington Museum._)]

These bronze-plaque doors of Beybars are of a different character from the bronze doors of the later Mamlūks.[73] The mosques of Cairo present many splendid examples of this later style, which usually consists in covering the doors with large plates of thin bronze (about ¼ inch), cut out in various arabesque patterns, or cast in embossed designs, and chased on the surface, and generally distributed in the form of a central circle or oval and four corner-pieces, or spandrils, with a border round the four sides, secured by ribbed-headed nails. The door itself is of wooden planks nailed on to a frame-work behind, and strengthened by bronze bands near the top and bottom, which run through, according to Mr. Wild, and turn round at the edges, being formed into panels by the arabesque border on the front side: it turns on pivots, not hinges. Some of these doors are admirably represented in Prisse d’Avenne’s _L’Art Arabe_: for example, the beautiful door of Almās (vol. ii. plate 100), where the whole surface is covered with bronze plaques, more like the style of Beybars than is common on later mosques; that of Sultan Barkūk (pl. 96) with a central circular plaque, pointed at top and bottom, four corner-pieces, and narrow border; that of Sultan Kansūh El-Ghōry (pl. 102) arranged somewhat similarly; and that of Talāi‘ ibn Ruzeyk, as restored by Bektemir in the 14th century (pl. 95). There is a splendid bronze door to the mosque of El-Muayyad (A.H. 818-23), which was taken from the mosque of Sultan Hasan, where, however, the entrance to the tomb chamber is still closed by a magnificent gate of bronze inlaid with silver.

From the bronze doors of Beybars, the history of metal-work in Cairo leaps over four Sultans to En-Nāsir Mohammad ibn Kalaūn, who reigned A.D. 1293-4, 1299-1309, and 1310-41, or (omitting the first brief rule) during most of the first half of the 14th century. En-Nāsir built two noble mosques, and the number of works in metal bearing his name and those of his courtiers is very large. Among the finest is the beautiful table preserved in the Arab Museum at Cairo.

17. TABLE (KURSY).—_Brass, inlaid with silver._ Made for the Mamlūk Sultan En-Nāsir Mohammad. Fourteenth century.

It is made of filigree brass inlaid with arabesques, flowers, water- fowl, and Arabic inscriptions in silver, and is chased all over in elaborate profusion. One of the panels, forming a folding door, through which no doubt a pan of live charcoal was introduced, to warm the tray of food which was placed upon the table, is represented in fig. 75, where the inscriptions on the top border read, عز لمولانا السطان الملك الناصر ناصر الدنيا والدين محمد بن السلطان الملك المنصور الشهيد قلاون الصالحى غز انصاره

“Glory to our lord the Sultan, the king, En-Nāsir [the Succourer or Helper], Aid of the church and state, Mohammad, son of the Sultan, the king, El-Mansūr [the victorious], the martyr [_i.e._ defunct] Kalaūn, [liegeman] of Es-Sālih [Ayyūb], be his triumphs magnified!” The inscriptions in the three other narrow borders are practically identical with the above. The large inscription in the upper panel is محيى العدل فى العالمين | ناصر الدنيا والدين “Upholder of justice in the world, Aid of the state and church;” while in the circular medallions is distributed the inscription, “Glory to our master the Sultan | El-Melik En-Nāsir Mohammad ibn | El-Melik El-Mansūr Kalaūn.”[74]

[Musée Arabe.]

18. Another brass and silver filigree Table (_kursy_), preserved in the same museum, and stated to have belonged to the Māristān of Kalaūn, is represented in fig. 74. It has no inscriptions, but undoubtedly belongs to the same period as the first.

The characteristic designs of the Cairo metal-workers under En-Nāsir Mohammad may, however, best be seen in the large bowl or tank described below. As a rule, but not without exceptions, we may set down, as characteristic of 14th century Cairo work, the absence of figures (except on vessels having astrological uses), the prevalence of ducks or other birds in the ground decoration, the medallions (enclosing a sort of fess bearing the name of the Sultan,) surrounded by a rosette of flowers and leaves resembling the patterns of Damascus tiles, the shoals of fish at the bottom of bowls, the broad bands of tall bold silver- inlaid letters, the large surfaces of inlay, and the little whorl ornament which takes the place of the key-pattern medallion already noticed.

19. LARGE AND DEEP BOWL.—_Brass, inlaid with silver._ Made for the Sultan En-Nāsir Mohammad ibn Kalaūn (A.D. 1293-1341).

Ornamented with broad bold zones of Arabic inscriptions, filled in with waterfowl and flowers and leaves (which seem to be conventionalized ducks’ wings), and divided at regular intervals by medallions, enclosing titles on a fess, and enclosed in rosette of flowers and leaves.

Large inscription round the outside:—

عز لمولانا السلطان الملك ◯ لناصر العامل العادل المجاهد ◯ ناصر الدنيا
والدين محمد بن قلاون ◯

“Glory to our lord the Sultan, the king, the helper [El-Melik En-Nāsir], ruler, leonine, fighter for the Faith, Aid of the state and church, Mohammad son of Kalaūn.” The medallions enclosed in rosettes of flowers indicated by ◯ contain, on a fess, عز لمولانا السلطان ا “Glory to our master the Sultan the” (_sic_).

Above and below the large inscription, on a floral ground, six little medallions contain عز لمولانا السلطان “Glory to our master the Sultan,” twelve times repeated.

Scratched under rim by later hand الصبر عبادة “Patience is worship.”

Large inscription inside:—

عز لمولانا السلطان الملك الناصر ◯ العالم العامل العادى المجاهدا ◯
لمرابط ناصر الدنيا والدين محمد بن قلاون عز نصره ◯

“Glory to our lord the Sultan El-Melik En-Nāsir, wise, ruler, leonine, fighter for the Faith, warden of Islam, Aid of the state and church, Mohammad son of Kalaūn, be his triumph magnified!” The medallions marked ◯ are filled as on the outside: but there are no small medallions in the floral border beneath, or in the double scroll border above inscription; but the last is divided by six whorls.

The bottom is covered with a shoal of fish, in a circular spiked border.

[B. M., 51. 1. 4.]

These large inscriptions offer a good example of the method of inlaying silver plates. Each letter was scooped out and deepened towards the edges, which were slightly under-cut and very delicately serrated. As the weak hold thus obtained let the silver escape, a later workman seems to have repaired the tank, and re-inlaid it by stippling the surfaces with a triangular point and rudely serrating the edges. Very little of the silver now remains: what there is shows that the surface was delicately chased when the subject required it (_e.g._ birds’ wings).

The South Kensington Museum possesses a large tray of the same Sultan, of the sort that is used to carry a meal, splendidly engraved and inlaid, as follows:—

20. TRAY.—_Brass, inlaid with gold and silver._ Made for the Sultan En- Nāsir ibn Kalaūn (A.D. 1293-1341).

The principal inscription (_a_) occupies a large zone on the upper surface, and is composed of bold Naskhy letters:—

عز لملانا السلطان ا (_m_) لملك العالم العا (_m_) مل العادل العادل عز
نصره (_m_)

“Glory to our lord, the Sultan, the king, wise, just, ruler, be his triumph magnified!”

At (_m_) the inscription is broken by medallions containing the words الملك الناصر El-Melik El-Nāṣir, on a fess; and round each medallion runs an inscription (_b_) similar to (_a_), but adding, after العادر, المجاهد المرابط المتاعز المؤيد; the whole enclosed in a belt of leaves and flowers.

An inner zone of inscription is similar to (_b_), but continued with the words المنصور سلطان الاسلام والمسلمين عز نصره, “The victorious, Sultan of Islam and the Muslims: be his triumph magnified,” and divided by three similar pairs of medallions joined together by a panel of flowers and leaves. The right-hand medallion of each pair contains on a fess the words (_c_) عز لمولانا السلطان, the left, on a shield, an antelope in an enclosure.

A third innermost zone of inscription is similar to _a_, but substitutes المجاهد for عز نصره

On the outer surface of the rim is the following inscription, divided at ◯ by sets of three medallions like (_c_), joined by panels of flowers:—

عز لمولانا السلطان الملك الناصر العامل العادل ◯ flowers ◯ flowers ◯
العادر المجاهد المرابط المتاعز المؤيد المنضور ناصر الدينا والد ◯ fl. fl.
◯ ين قاتل الكفرة والمشركين محيى العدل فى العالمين والفقرا ◯ fl. ◯ fl. ◯
والمساكين السلطان الملك المنصور ناصرالدنيا والدين ◯ fl. ◯ fl. ◯

“Glory to our lord the Sultan, El-Melik En-Nāsir,” &c.

Diam. 31 in. [S. K. M. 420-1854].

21. BOX.—_Brass, inlaid with silver._ Made for the Overseer Ahmad. [Fourteenth century.]

The lid is hinged and fastens with a hasp: on the top is a radiate Arabic inscription surrounding a shield (on a fess a lozenge):—

مما عمل برسم العبد الفقير الرجى الغفران من الرب المنان [ا] لمهتار احمد
مهتار الامير محمد بن ساطلمش الجلالى

“Of what was made by order of the humble servant, hoping for forgiveness from the benevolent Lord, the Overseer Ahmad, Overseer to the Amīr Mohammad son of Sātilmish, the Gelāly.”

On the hollowed rim of the lid is a border of flower-scrolls divided by whorls, and below this a border of beasts of the chase divided by shields: on a fess, a lozenge.

On the lower part, divided by four medallions containing water-fowl, on a ground of large arabesques of early style, are the Arabic benedictory verses:

ولا برحت مدا الايام فى سعة | بانعم ومسرّات وافضالى

لا زلت يا مالكى ما دمت فى دعة | وانت من كلّ همّ خالى البالى

Cease not through all thy days to dwell at ease,

Where comforts solace thee, and pleasure charms:

While breath shall last, my Master, cherish peace;

High rest thy heart above the world’s alarms.

On the bottom, a beautiful arabesque border surrounds a whorl.

[B. M., Blacas. Reinaud, ii. 422.]

The name of the Amīr Mohammad ibn Sātilmish has not yet been identified; but a Mamlūk called Sātilmish is mentioned in the latter half of the thirteenth century as taking part in the court at Cairo; and the style of arabesques on the box, the character of the inscriptions, the whorls and shields, undoubtedly indicate a Cairo fabric. The title _Mihtār_, or Overseer, was given to the officers who presided over the different departments of a princely household.

Fourteenth Century. (_British Museum._)]

22. BOWL.—_Brass, inlaid with silver._ Made for a Courtier of En-Nāsir. [Fourteenth century.] (Fig. 87.)

Outside, whorl at bottom surrounded by sort of sixfoil, round which a lozenge-diaper ornament; ground of Damascus flowers and water-fowl; border inscription divided by six whorls enclosed in a ring of flying ducks:—

المقر الكريم العا ◯ لى المولوى الاميرى ◯ الكبيرى العالمى ◯ العاملى
العادى ◯ المجاهدى المرابطى ا ◯ لملكى الناصرى ا ◯

“His Excellency, generous, exalted, lordly, great Amīr, wise, ruler, leonine, fighter for the Faith, warden of Islām [liegeman] of El-Melik En-Nāsir.”

On the bottom, inside, a shoal of fish round a whorl.

[B. M., Henderson, 686.]

23. CANDLESTICK WITH THREE FEET.—_Brass, inlaid with silver._ Made for a Centurion of En-Nāsir. [Fourteenth century.]

Engraved with birds and arabesques, the interstices filled with black enamel. Round central band, inscriptions in silver inlay, recording fourteenth century Mamlūk titles, (including that of Captain over 100,) divided by three medallions enclosing birds and whorls of eight rays. Height 12 in., diam. 10½ in.

[S. K. M., 912.-1884.]

Another candlestick in the South Kensington Museum (4505-1858), is engraved in fig. 88.

24. STAND FOR TRAY.—_Brass (with an alloy of silver)._ Made for a Chief Secretary. [Fourteenth century.]

Dice-box shape; engraved with Arabic inscriptions, divided by medallions containing coats of arms in floral borders; the spaces filled with floral ornaments outlined with black enamel. The inscription reads:

الجناب العالى المولوى ا ◯ السيفى امير دوادار اتابك عز انصاره

“His Highness, exalted, lordly, [liegeman] of Seyf-ed-dīn, Chief Secretary, Atābek: be his triumphs magnified!”

Height 9½ in., diam. 7⅝ in. [S. K. M., 934.-1884.]

The floral ornaments are of the kind already described, the Damascus- like leaves and flowers; and the medallions and floral borders form a kind of rosette very characteristic of the Nāsiry period. The coats of arms consist of a fess bearing a large goblet between two smaller ones; above the fess is a hieroglyphic inscription [Hieroglyphic], denoting “lord of the Upper and Lower country”—which the Mamlūks must have constantly seen on the ancient monuments, but were undoubtedly unable to interpret—and beneath is a lozenge. The subject of heraldic bearings on Mamlūk works of art has been extensively discussed by the late Rogers Bey in a paper published in the _Bulletin de l’Institut Egyptien_. This particular coat of arms is not described by Mr. Rogers; but several nearly resembling it belong to the Amīrs of the fourteenth century. The cup, as a charge, indicates that the bearer held the post of Sāky, or cupbearer, to the Sultan or to some great noble.

25. BATH VESSEL.—_Bronze, inlaid with silver._ Made for a Courtier of En-Nāsir. [Fourteenth century.]

Round edge, Arabic inscription, divided by four shields, containing a bend between two stars:

المقر العالى المولوى المالكى ا 🛡 العادلى العاملى العالمى الا (_sic_) 🛡
المجاهدى المرابطى المتاعزى الما 🛡 لكى العادلى الملكى الناصرى 🛡

“His Excellence, exalted, lordly, royal, just, worker, wise, fighting for the Faith, warden of Islām, powerful, royal, just, [liegeman] of El- Melik En-Nāsir.”

[B. M., Burges, 22.]

The intention of the next bowl is certainly magical: the planets are to be used astrologically, to secure auspicious results. The bowl would be filled with water, which became imbued with the mysterious influences of the planets, and then the water would be drunk off, or sprinkled on the person. These cups were often made at Mekka, in view of the Ka‘ba, which is sometimes represented: so much is stated on a cup in the Vatican.

26. BOWL OR CUP.—_Brass, inlaid with silver._ Made for a Courtier of En- Nāsir. [Fourteenth century.]

Outside, on bottom, seated figures of the planets: the moon, a crowned human figure, holding a crescent in two uplifted hands; Mars, helmeted and holding sword and bleeding head; Mercury, holding a carpenter’s square; Jupiter, seated judge-like, between two fish; Venus with pear- shaped lute and wine-cup; Saturn with raised staff and purse; the sun should have occupied the centre, but is worn off. Ground of arabesques. An inscription round the side, divided by three seated aureoled figures holding wine-cups, records usual Mamlūk titles of El-Nāsir’s court.

Inside, at bottom, a shoal of fish, arranged in form of whorl.

[B. M., Blacas. Reinaud, ii. 359, ff., and pl. vii.]

27. TRAY.—_Brass inlaid with silver._ Made for Sultan Sha‘bān, who reigned A.H. 746-7 (A.D. 1345-6).

Ornamented somewhat in the Nāsiry style, with rosettes and geometrical designs, on a ground of bold and rather coarse arabesques.

Fourteenth Century. (_South Kensington Museum._)]

A. Large zone of inscription:

عز لمولانا السلطان الملك ا ◯ لكامل العالم العامل العادل ◯ العاذر
المجاهد سيف الدنيا والدين شعبان عز نصره ◯

“Glory to our lord the Sultan, the king, perfect, wise, ruler, just, lenient, fighter for the Faith, sword of the state and church, Sha‘bān: be his triumph magnified!”

B. At ◯, medallions:—الملك الكامل surrounded by a circular inscription, C, similar to that above, but omitting العامل العادل and عز نصره; the whole enclosed in border of boldly drawn flowers and leaves.

In the centre of the tray is a sixfoil enclosed in ring of inscription (same as C) within double trefoil, outside which a ring of inscription similar to A (omitting عز نصره), divided into three parts by panels of flowers between whorls.

The rim is covered with floral borders and whorls.

[B. M., Blacas. Reinaud ii. 439].

A beautiful writing-box, with the name of the same Sultan, and decorated with ducks, whorls, and key-pattern, is engraved in Prisse.

Reinaud (ii. 441, _n._) describes a tray, nearly four feet in diameter, which he saw in Paris, and which bore the name of Farag son of Barkūk, second of the Burgy or Circassian Mamlūks, who reigned (with a year’s interruption) from A.H. 801 to 815 (A.D. 1398-1412). Unfortunately he does not tell us the style of decoration, the metal or metals, or other details, nor does he mention what has become of the tray. The inscription in the midst ran: عز لمولانا السلطان الملك الناصر فرج بن برقوق عز نصره; while a larger inscription included a long string of titles. These long and sounding titles are often clearly regulated by the space at the artist’s command, and even the words themselves are apparently varied to suit the taste. It is probable that العادر, العادى, &c., are merely fanciful alterations of الغازى.

Fifteenth Century. (_South Kensington Museum._)]

Fig. 89 represents the back of a very beautiful brass bowl of the Mamlūk Sultan Kāït-Bey (A.D. 1468-96), which is preserved in the South Kensington Museum (no. 1325-1856). It is specially noteworthy for the back being ornamented with a _repoussé_ arabesque design of great beauty, covered with delicate chasing. The inscription on the side, inlaid with silver, runs:

عز لمولانا السلطان الملك ◯ العادل المجاهد المرابط ا ◯ لمؤيد المنصور
سلطان الاسلام ◯ والمسلمين الملك الاشرف ابو النصر قائتباى عز نصره ◯

“Glory to our master the Sultan, the king, just, fighter for the Faith, warden of Islām, God-aided, victorious, Sultan of Islām and the Muslims, the most noble king [El-Melik El-Ashraf], Father of Victory, Kāït Bey: be his triumph magnified.” At ◯ are four medallions, characteristic of Kāït Bey’s monuments and all his works; they contain his name and style, as below:—

ابو النصر قائتباى

عز لمولانا السلطان الملك الاشرف

عز نصره

]

Among the purposes to which metal-work was applied was the manufacture of large chandeliers or lanterns for mosques. Some of these are still hanging before the niches but most of them have been taken away. Coste illustrates a bronze lamp of Sultan Hasan (fig. 23), and two are seen hanging in his representation of that mosque (fig. 25), besides the usual small plain glass lamps: but Coste was quite capable of inserting such details for the sake of artistic effect, and their presence in his drawing is hardly a proof that they really existed. Coste also gives a large lamp to the mosque of Kāït-Bey; and in Prisse there is an illustration (reproduced in fig. 76) of a silver lamp of Beybars II. of the shape of the usual enamelled glass lamps, but made of filigree work, hung by fine metal straps, which, however, are imperfectly rendered in the woodcut. An engraving of an early undated metal lamp of the same form, which comes from Jerusalem, and is now in the Louvre, is reproduced (fig. 90) from M. de Longpérier’s _Œuvres_. Another form is that of a chandelier, of a conical shape, surrounded by numerous little glass globes to hold oil and wicks. An example of this kind (from the mosque of ‘Abd-el-Basit, and now in the Arab Museum at Cairo), made of filigree iron with a bright copper band, is shown in fig. 77, and fig. 78 represents a bronze tray (intended to be suspended beneath a chandelier), covered with chasing, and bearing the name and titles of the last of the Mamlūk Sultans, Kansūh El-Ghōry (A.D. 1501-1516).

The art of metal-working survives in Cairo, as has been said, to the present day. The finer style of bronze door was made in perfection so late as last century, as may be seen from M. Prisse’s engraving of the door of ‘Abd-er-Rahmān Kikhya (A.D. 1760), which is as delicately wrought as any earlier example. In the present day the coppersmiths of Cairo make trays and ewers and other common utensils decorated with considerable skill in the style of the Mamlūk work, and sometimes with much elaboration of ornament, including inlay of gold wire.

The results of the foregoing examination of the history of Saracenic metal-work may be roughly summarized in the following genealogical tree:—

[Derived from Syrian and
Mamlūk schools. Examples
chiefly from the early
sixteenth century.]

(_Louvre._)]

2. _Goldsmith’s work and Jewellery._

The Prophet Mohammad entertained a religious dislike to the luxury of gold ornament, and cautioned the women of Arabia against the use of tinkling anklets. Nature, however, was occasionally too strong for the Prophet, and although the mass of the male Muslims observe a strict sobriety in their dress, weave cotton with their silk, and prefer silver to gold for their sole ornament, the signet ring, there are always some whose passion for display overcomes the scruples of conscience; and the women, of course, cannot exist without a little jewellery. We read in the annals of Egypt of extraordinary quantities of precious stones preserved in the treasuries of princesses and khalifs. ‘Abda, the daughter of the Fātimy Khalif El-Mu‘izz, left at her death five bushels of emeralds and a prodigious amount of rubies and precious stones of all sorts. The Khalif El-Mustansir, this lady’s nephew, possessed quantities of emeralds, pearl necklaces, gold and silver and amber rings, caskets set with jewels, figures of birds and animals adorned with precious stones, a table of sardonyx, and a jewelled turban. As a rule, however, we read more of large objects set with jewels than of small ornaments of attire, and this is explained by the fact that jewellery is principally employed by women, and therefore cannot be described in detail by Mohammadan historians, who are bound in delicacy to ignore the fair sex. Thus the seclusion of ladies in the East makes it difficult to trace the history of Saracenic jewellery, and the difficulty becomes insuperable when it is discovered that no specimens of the mediaeval jewellery of the Egyptian ladies have come down to us with a certain date.

In the absence of dated examples of mediaeval Egyptian jewellery, we are forced to work backwards from the existing productions of the jeweller’s market at Cairo, and endeavour to deduce the probable character of the earlier work. There can be little doubt that many of the ornaments now manufactured in Cairo represent ancient patterns, which have been handed from father to son in the goldsmiths’ traditions for several centuries. The ordinary bracelet, composed of two plain bands enclosing a double or single twisted band is certainly an old design, and has worn the same shape and shown the same character of ornament for many generations. So, no doubt, have the anklets with square heads cut in facets. A description of the ornaments now made at Cairo—which is all that is attainable—may therefore not improbably represent the same general character of jewellery as that worn by the famous Queen Sheger-ed-durr, “Tree of Pearls,” who repulsed St. Louis with her gallant Mamlūk troops.

The modern jewellery of Cairo has been so exhaustively described and illustrated by Mr. Lane, in an Appendix to his _Modern Egyptians_, that it is only necessary to summarize his account and refer to his engravings. A Cairo lady’s ornaments consist in various additions to her head-dress and hair, in ear-rings, necklace, bracelets, anklets, and amulets. The head-dress is composed of a tarbūsh or fez, round which is wound a kerchief (_rabta_). To the crown of the tarbūsh is sewn the boss-like ornament called a _kurs_, about five inches in diameter, and ornamented with diamonds set in gold filigree-work. In the present day the diamonds and gold are alike of poor quality, and a good _kurs_ is not worth more than £150. Even the wives of tradesmen, who are usually devoted to diamonds, manage to buy some sort of _kurs_, though it is a heavy, uncomfortable ornament, and produces headache when put on, and also when taken off, so that many ladies, when once their heads are hardened to its weight, wear it night and day. A common kind of _kurs_ is made of a thin gold plate, embossed with a pattern, and having a false emerald set in the middle.

Attached to the kerchief, over the forehead, is worn the _kursa_, a band of diamonds, emeralds, or rubies, set in gold, generally with pendants, about seven inches long. On either side of the kerchief hang festoons of pearls, connected together by a pierced emerald, and fastened at the front to the _kursa_, and at the other end to the back of the kerchief, or to the ear-ring. Sometimes a sprig (_rīsha_) or crescent (_hilāl_) of diamonds set in gold or silver is worn, instead of the _kursa_ and pearls, on the front or side of the kerchief; and another favourite ornament is the _kamara_, or pear-shaped gold plate, embossed with Arabic letters or a pattern, and having flat gold pendants hanging beneath. There are several varieties of this ornament, in the shape of a _sakīya_, or water-wheel, a comb, &c., with distinctive names, the most curious of which is _‘Ūd-es-Salīb_, “Wood of the Cross,” which is clearly of Coptic origin.

The ear-rings (_halak_) are not remarkable. They consist of diamonds, pearls, emeralds, rubies, &c., set in gold, with sometimes a sprig of floral filigree-work above the drop. The necklace (_‘ikd_) is seen in great variety, but with this peculiarity, that it does not completely encircle the neck, being but ten inches long; the connecting piece of string is covered by the hair, which is generally ornamented with strings of gold ornaments and coins. There is usually a bead or link larger than the rest in the middle, or also at fixed intervals. Pearls strung, diamonds set in gold, and hollow gold beads, form the usual links of the necklace.

Cairene jewellers do not cut their diamonds and emeralds in facets, as this would induce a belief that they were false; but they commonly pierce the emeralds. Both customs, of course, destroy the beauty of the jewels.

More characteristic than the necklaces are the bracelets (_asāwir_) and anklets (_khulkāl_), which are commonly of solid silver, or even gold. Simple twist for gold, and a twist set in plain bands for silver, are the most usual patterns of bracelets, and are doubtless of high antiquity. The anklets are heavy, and clank together as the lady walks, so that the poet says:

“The clink of thine anklets has bereft me of reason.”

The amulet (_higāb_) is a little silver or gold box, embossed and adorned with pendants, containing a chapter from the Korān or other charm, covered with waxed cloth, and is suspended at the right side above the girdle by a cord passing over the left shoulder.

There is another branch of metal-work of which nothing has been said: we know almost nothing of Mamlūk armour; and although there is undoubtedly a “Market of Arms” in Cairo which once plied a busy trade, it is doubtful whether their work did not chiefly consist in fitting and adapting the weapons and armour of Persia and the Indies. Two helmets in the Tower of London have indeed an Egyptian look, and I should be inclined to ascribe them to Cairo workmen of the period of Kalaūn (end of the thirteenth century). These are, however, quite exceptional; and most of the arms attributed to Egypt are undoubtedly Syrian or Persian. It must not be forgotten that, to the Mamlūks, Damascus was almost as much their capital as Cairo; and while Damascus blades were to be had there was little inducement for the establishment of an Egyptian school of armourers. The list of Beybars’ presents (p. 28) includes Damascus weapons, and pikes tempered by the Arabs, but no Cairo armour is mentioned.

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The art of the Saracens in EgyptChapter VII: Metal-Work (2)

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