A TINNED COPPER COVER (SARPUSH)
Kashmir or North-Western India, early 19th century

Of deep rounded shape with a gently everted rim, in the form of an upturned bowl, topped by a straight circular grip, engraved with concentric decorative bands filled with fretwork, arabesque medallions, palmettes, vegetal tendrils, connecting bi-lobed motifs, peculiar foliation in the epigraphic panels and calligraphic inscriptions, one cartouche with the date 1011 AH (1602) and naming the owner, Khwajah Ashraf, 31.5cm diam.

This tinned copper cover could be considered a revivalist piece, honouring the 17th-century Safavid metalware tradition. Indeed, in the 19th century, both in Iran and in India, artists developed a tendency of looking back at the work of old masters and of honouring them by attempting to reproduce traditional motifs and patterns. With time, this practice became more stylised and departed from the linear, crisp design to be admired in 17th-century models.

A full transcription and translation of the epigraphic panels on the cover are here now available thanks to the work of the present owner:

Ey anke torast dar jahanhush
Dar sohbat-e ahl-e zowq minush
Bardar ze ruyetas sarpush
Ta yar konad ta’am ra nush

Sahibuhu Khwajah Ashraf. Sanata 1011

Oh you that have lucidity in this world
Drink in the company of people of good taste
Lift the cover from the face of the basin
So that the Companion may quaff the nourishment

Its owner is Khwajah Ashraf. In the year 1011 June 1602/June 1603