Inkwell and pencase

Inkwell, lavishly decorated with arabesques and inscriptions consisting of Persian and Arab verses in nastaliq script. On the bottom part is the signature of the craftsman, Mirak Husein Yazdi. The Arab verses invoke Ali, the Prophet’s son-in-law, and attest to the Shiite environment in which the object was produced. It is one of the best-known signed works of Persian metalwork of the time of Shah Ismail (1501-1524). From Iran, early 16th c. L 30 cm (ΓΕ 13172)