Large magic bowl with calligraphic decoration, Iran qâjâr, d - Lot 137

Large magic bowl with calligraphic decoration, Iran qâjâr, dated 1843 Flat-bottomed hollow copper-alloy bowl with engraved decoration on the outer wall of a frieze of calligraphic cartouches in Persian nasta'liq alternating with medallions furnished with animals, underlined by a band of plant scrolls and a frieze of lambrequins. Below, a cartouche bearing the Turkish name Sheikh Yunus Effendim and the date 1260 H / 1843. On the inner wall, six poly-lobed medallions are framed by two friezes of religious inscriptions in Arabic nasta'liq, and the center of the bowl is engraved with a radiating inscription. The inscriptions running under the lip are Shi'ite in character, taken from 'Alî Zayn al-Abidîn's Sahîfa Sajjâdiya, the mandorles are inscribed with a prayer for the relief of pain and the healing of illness, the inscription around the central medallion is Qur'anic (Qur'an, II, 255), while the radiating inscription is taken from the Nâd-e 'Alî prayer. Height: 8 cm; diameter: 22.5 cm Slight dents and scratches.