A BRASS ENGRAVED MAGIC BOWL
Possibly Shiraz, Qajar Iran, 19th century

A BRASS ENGRAVED MAGIC BOWL
Possibly Shiraz, Qajar Iran, 19th century

Of typical shallow rounded shape, resting on a short straight foot, the centre marked with a dome-shaped boss, the central tip hollow, possibly once encrusted with a turquoise, the interior finely engraved with cusped medallions around the cavetto and talismanic inscriptions overall invoking Ali and the Shi'a Imams, the exterior with lobed cartouches filled with the twelve Zodiac signs, the Leo surmounted by the typical Qajar rising sun, more invocations to the calligraphic band below the rim, 20cm diam.