A QAJAR BRASS TRAY WITH BANQUETING SCENES (BAZM) AND POETRY (SH'ER)
Qajar Iran, 19th century

Of rectangular shape with an everted, reinforced rim, the incised and chased interior showcasing a central rectangular panel in-filled with lobed floral medallions with figural motifs in the heart of eight-pointed stars, including a banqueting scene in the middle, and scenes from Nizami Ganjavi's Khamsa, specifically Shirin visiting Farhad at Mount Bisotun, and Leyla visiting Majnun as a hermit in the wilderness, the negative spaces created by the interlaced stellar geometric clusters filled with dense flowering sprays and further figural cartouches in the shapes of flower heads and boteh (paisley) leaves, several concentric decorative bands with floral scrolls and split palmette trellis on the outer border and rim, the cavetto with rectangular epigraphic cartouches with poetry, 43.5cm x 58cm.