* Bol "Tâs" aux cavaliers

Iran, Fars, 14th century Silver-inlaid brass bowl with rounded base, the sides tapering to a short neck, profusely engraved and decorated in silver inlay with a series of cartouches filled with "thuluth" inscriptions interspersed with animated medallions of horsemen, all on a background of foliate interlacing, the interior with a central roundel surrounded by fish, three ownership inscriptions at the base. Condition: some dents. D. 23 cm Provenance: Former royal collection, France. This lot is sold as a temporary import. Inscriptions: "li-mawlana [a]l-sultan [a]l-a'zam malik riqab [a]l-umam al-sultan al-salatin al-'arab": For our lord, the great sultan, dominating the nations, the sultan of the sultans of the Arabs." Additional notes from the owners include, "O Muhammad! O 'Ali', 'His owner Abu'l-Hasan', 'His owner Hji Ibrahim bin Ghawan' For our lord, the great sultan, dominant over the nations, the Sultan of sultans of the Arabs.' The additional owners' notes including, 'O Muhammad! O 'Ali', 'Its owner Abu'l-Hasan', 'Its owner Hji Ibrahim bin Ghawan." For a similarly inscribed and decorated bowl in the Victoria and Albert Museum, see A.S. Melikian-Chirvani, Islamic metalwork from the Iranian World: 8-18th Centuries, London, 1982, pp. 209-210, no. 95. A Fars silver-inlaid brass bowl, Persia, 14th Century