Table, cast and engraved bronze
Egypt; 12th century
H: 37 cm
Inventory number 16/1970
There are a number of little tables made up of a tripod base, a separate pedestal, and a little top. They can usually be taken apart into three pieces, and there is much evidence that they were used for holding lamps. The pedestal with different types of facets, the domed base, and the flat tabletop are all engraved sumptuously with palmettes, an elegant, geometric interlaced medallion, and a cursive inscription against a ground of vines.
The Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo has an almost identical table signed by a certain Ibn al-Makki. Its inscription was engraved in rather old-fashioned Kufi calligraphy, which might indicate that the table in Copenhagen is the younger of the two.
The Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo has an almost identical table signed by a certain Ibn al-Makki. Its inscription was engraved in rather old-fashioned Kufi calligraphy, which might indicate that the table in Copenhagen is the younger of the two.
Published in
Published in
André Leth: Davids Samling. Islamisk kunst = The David Collection. Islamic Art, København 1975, p. 85;
Kjeld von Folsach: Islamic art. The David Collection, Copenhagen 1990, cat.no. 317;
Kjeld von Folsach: Art from the World of Islam in The David Collection, Copenhagen 2001, cat.no. 460;
Kjeld von Folsach: Islamic art. The David Collection, Copenhagen 1990, cat.no. 317;
Kjeld von Folsach: Art from the World of Islam in The David Collection, Copenhagen 2001, cat.no. 460;
