AN ENGRAVED AND SILVER-INLAID BRASS LIDDED BOX
Stamped Ja'far, Isfahan, Qajar Iran, late 19th century

Of rectangular shape, resting on a plain base, surmounted by a hinged, stepped, casket-like lid, each panel finely engraved with cusped cartouches in the centre filled with floral bloom, vegetal motifs and princely riders on their steeds, some of them portrayed hunting, some in procession, and one holding a disc similar to the Zoroastrian diadem of sovereignty (khvarenah or in Middle Persian khwarrah) featured in several Sassanian rock reliefs in the Fars region, every cartouche highlighted with a thin line of silver inlay, the lower section of the lid engraved with a figural band featuring banqueting scenes and musicians against a lush vegetal ground, the edges and corners engraved with intertwined split palmette trellis imitating knotwork bands, the lock stamped by an unknown maker, the base stamped 'Amal-e Ja'far (the work of Ja'far), a well-known Persian silversmith who established his silver and brass workshop in Qajar Isfahan and was active in the late 19th - early 20th century, 15cm x 27.5cm x 18cm.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the four most renowned centres of Persian silverware production were Shiraz, Kermanshah, Tabriz and Isfahan. The last centre became particularly famous for the superior quality of high-grade silver creations produced in the workshop of the Master and retailer Ja'far (عمل جعفر). It is believed that Ja'far used to collect orders from various clients and subsequently commission the making of those masterpieces to the most talented Isfahani craftsmen working in his atelier.

The name of this artist is mostly associated with silver pieces, thus the rarity of our box, which showcases all the main decorative features typical of Ja'far creations, but instead of being made of silver, it is made of silver-inlaid brass.