Brass bowl, engraved and inlaid with silver and gold

This once richly inlaid bowl (tas) belongs to a type that was made especially in the province of Fars from the late 13th to the end of the 14th century. The decoration – geometric and floral friezes, accompanied by other friezes with running animals – is common, although there were naturally many variations. The same is true of cartouches with courtiers drinking, playing instruments, or hunting, and inscriptions. The inside of the bowl, with neatly organized rows of fish, ducks, and jellyfish, is also typical.

What is more unusual is that the bowl was dedicated to the Injuid prince Jamal al-Din Abu Ishaq, during whose reign it must have been made, probably in his capital of Shiraz.