High‑tin bronze bowls
Type:
Bowls
Date:
Eleventh and twelfth centuries
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Afghanistan
Description:
These high‑tin bronze bowls were made in the western part of Central Asia (modern-day Afghanistan), which was under the rule of the Turkic Ghaznavid dynasty (977–1186). High-tin bronze, an alternative to silver, is too malleable to be hammered and so it tends to be decorated with chased, engraved, or punched motifs.
One bowl includes intertwined lines that form a central six-pointed star. The other is covered in inner and outer Arabic inscriptions that include the name of the bowl's maker (Abu Nasr al-Naqqash) and warnings against loose tongues and procrastination: "Keep your tongue from speaking and getting in trouble, because problems always come from talking. For every delay there is a book; for every work there is a reward; for every work there is deferment." At the very bottom of the bowl is an image of an enthroned ruler wearing a qaba' turki (Turkic qaba'), a midcalf-length coat fastened by overlapping one side over the other.
One bowl includes intertwined lines that form a central six-pointed star. The other is covered in inner and outer Arabic inscriptions that include the name of the bowl's maker (Abu Nasr al-Naqqash) and warnings against loose tongues and procrastination: "Keep your tongue from speaking and getting in trouble, because problems always come from talking. For every delay there is a book; for every work there is a reward; for every work there is deferment." At the very bottom of the bowl is an image of an enthroned ruler wearing a qaba' turki (Turkic qaba'), a midcalf-length coat fastened by overlapping one side over the other.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
7
