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The Blazons of the “Baptistere de Saint Louis”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2009

D. S. Rice
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Extract

The inlaid bronze basin in the Musée du Louvre known as the “ Baptistère de St. Louis ” is generally recognized as a masterpiece of Islamic metalwork. So far, published photographs and drawings have failed to do it justice. Almost the whole surface of the vessel, both outside and inside, is engraved with court-scenes, battles and hunting expeditions set out in harmoniously composed panels and medallions, framed by narrower friezes of beasts of the chase, and enriched with delicately chased silver inlay and gold leaf, in such manner as to allow the bronze to appear only in narrow contours, brought into relief by the use of a black bituminous inlay (Pl. 5).

The basin is signed in several places, and one signature, in calligraphic Mamlī, reads “ Work of the Master (al-mu'allim) Muhammad ibn al-Zain ”, but nowhere is the name of the owner of this magnificent vessel to be discovered. Nor is the owner's name given on the only other signed work of the same artist which has come down to us. Neither of these pieces bears the laudatory or benedictory inscriptions so common on Islamic metalwork.

Arab biographers rarely regarded outstanding artists, other than calligraphers, as worthy of inclusion in their biographical dictionaries. Their works yield no information about Muhammad ibn al-Zain and therefore none which might lead us to identify his patron. We must adopt a different method if we wish to discover for whom this princely vessel was originally made.

The earliest European reference to this basin appears to be an entry in Piganiol de la Force's Description de Paris, published in 1742.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , June 1950 , pp. 367 - 380
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 1950

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References

page 367 note 1 I use the term “ bronze ” with reserve, as no analysis has hitherto been made to determine the nature of the alloy.

page 367 note 2 This is a small bowl, inlaid with silver and gold, in the possession of Madame J. Marquet de Vasselot, to whom I am indebted for permission to study it. The only reproduction available to date will be found in Pope, A. U., Survey of Persian Art, Oxford, 1939, vol. iii, p. 2480,Google Scholar and vol. vi, pi. 1940. I hope to publish elsewhere a detailed study of this important piece.

page 367 note 3 Thanks to a grant from the Central Research Fund of the University of London I was able to resume work on a detailed monograph on the “ Baptistère de St. Louis ” which had been interrupted by the war and which will be published separately. Acknowledgment is due to M. Georges Salles, Director-General of the French Museums, for permission to study, photograph, and draw the object, and to M. J. David-Weill, Keeper of Muslim Antiquities at the Musé du Louvre, for extending to me every facility during my stay in Paris. Mme M. Hours, Head of the Louvre Laboratory, very kindly allowed me to use it. Mr. F. Destaville and Mr. Lazzari helped in the processing of the photographs. I am also indebted to Professor L. A. Mayer for many useful and stimulating suggestions, made both privately and when this paper was read in an abridged form to the XXIst International Congress of Orientalists, held in Paris in July 1948. Many improvements are also due to the advice of my friend Ralph A. Harari, who read a draft of this article.

page 368 note 1 For a description of the Baptism of Louis XIII see C. D. Bass, Le triomphe et cérémonies du Baptesme de Monseigneur le Dauphin…, Paris, n.d., p. 8, who informs us that “… le Baron de la Chastre portoit le vase, Monsieur de Montigny le bassin… ” Cf. also A. Arcangieli, II trionfo e le cerimonie del Battesimo del sereniss. principe Delfino di Francia…, Venice, 1606, and C. Latini, Relazione delle cerimonie, pompe, magnificenze Reali fatte nel Battesimo del serenissimo Delfino…, Paris, 1606, who informs us (p. 6) that “ il fonte Battismale d'argento dorato cauato del Tesoro della Santa Capella del Castello del Bosco di Vincenne, che si riserba quiui per battezzarui dentro solo li Delfini, & figliuoli di Francia ”, and goes on to explain (p. 9) “ che in Francia nelli Battesimi si usa portare un bacino, con il vaso pieno d'acqua odorifera (per lauar le mani al Prete, Compare & Comarc, finito di battezzarela creatura)…” It may well be, therefore, that if the Louvre basin was used for the baptism of Louis XIII—-and we have no reason to disbelieve Piganiol de la Force on this point—it may have served as wash basin for the priest and sponsors and not as the baptismal font.

page 368 note 2 De La Force, Piganiol, Description de Paris, de Versailles… et de toutes les autres belles maisons & chateaux des environs de Paris, Paris, 1742, vol. viii, p. 43.Google Scholar This is a sort of XVIIIth-century Baedeker and the entry is, of necessity, a brief one.

page 368 note 3 Millin, A.-L., Antiquités Nationales ou Recueil de Monumens…, Paris, 1791, vol. ii, pp. 62–3, pis. x-xi.Google Scholar

page 368 note 4 Prévost De Longpérier, H.-A., “ Vasc Oriental du Musée du Louvre connu sous le nom de Baptistère de St. Louis” (Communication faite à l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres dans la séance du 31 août 1866), in Revue Archéologique, vol. vii (n.s.), pp. 306–9;Google Scholar reproduced in. Liévre, E., Collection célère d'ceuvres d'art dessine'es et gravies d'apres les originaux, vol. i, Paris, 1866;Google Scholar also reprinted in (Euvres de A. de Longpérier réunis et mises en order par G. Schlumberger, vol. i, Paris, 1883, pp. 460–6, 2 figs.

page 369 note 1 H.-A. P. de Longpérier, (Euvres, i, p. 465.

page 369 note 2 Lane-Poole, S., Ar of the Saracens in Egypt, London, 1886, pp. 181 3,Google Scholar fig. 82. vol. XIII PART 2.

page 370 note 1 Migeon, G., “ Les cuivres arabes,” in Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1900, pp. 18–20,Google Scholar and one fig.

page 370 note 2 Migeon, G., L'Orient Musulman, Paris, 1922, p. 21,Google Scholar pI. 22; Idem, Les Arts Musulmans, Paris, 1926, p. 34, pi. xlix; Idem, Manuel d'art musulman (2nd ed.), Paris, 1927, vol. ii, pp. 62 ff., fig. 243. For a bibliography see Wiet, G., Catalogue du Musée Arabe du Caire, Objets en cuivre, Cairo, 1932, pp. 177 f.Google Scholar;Répertoire d'e'pigraphie arabe, vol. xi, pp. 271–2, nos. 4365–6. R. A. Harari, “ Metalwork after the early Islamic period ”, in Survey of Persian Art, vol. iii, p. 2499, suggested that the basin was made either in Iran or in Iraq, probably in Iran.

page 370 note 3 Aga-Oglu, M., “ Ein Prachtspiegel im Topkapu Sarayi Museum ”, in Pantheon, vol. iii, 1930, pp. 457Google Scholar ff., also Idem, “ About a type of Islamic Incense Burner”, in Art Bulletin, vol. xxvii, 1945, p. 36; followed by Dimand, M. S., in Ars Islamica, vol. viii, 1941, p. 210,Google Scholar and A Handbook of Muhammadan Art, New York, 1944, p. 150.

page 370 note 4 Two of these are visible on pi. ii, reproduced from a photograph which I owe to the kindness of Bay Tahsin Ôz, Director of the Topkapu Sarayi Museum. The third inscription, according to Aga-Oglu (Pantheon, iii, p. 456) is on the handle attached to the mirror. I presume that the words “ Hohe Exzellenz ” in the translation stand for ” al-maqarr al-‘ālī ”, as “ Seine hohe Gnaden ” stood for “ al-janāb al-‘āl¯i ”. This would present an additional difficulty as janāb is a lower title than maqarr, cf. M. van Berchom, CIA., Égypte, pp. 243 f., and JA., 1904, pp. 78–9 note. The text of the first two inscriptions reads:—

page 370 note 5 M. Aga.Oglu, ibid., p. 457.

page 372 note 1 Cf. Wiet, G., Les Biographies du Manhal Safi (Mém. présentés à l'Inst. d'Égypte, vol. xix), Cairo, 1932, p. 77, No. 533;Google ScholarMayer, L. A., Saracenic Heraldry, Oxford, 1933, pp. 62 f.Google Scholar

page 372 note 2 G. Wiet, op. cit., p. 70, No. 480; Mayer, op. cit., p. 67.

page 372 note 3 G. Wiet, op. cit., p. 182, No. 1280.

page 372 note 4 Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalāni, Al-durar al-kāmina, Hyderabad, A.H. 1348, vol. i, pp. 408–9.

page 372 note 5 Mayer, op. cit., p. 63.

page 372 note 6 Aga-Oglu, in Pantheon, ii, p. 457, fig. 4.

page 372 note 7 Mayer, op. cit., p. 237. The bowl is also reproduced in Kohlhausen, H., Islamische Kleinkunst, Hamburg, 1930, p. 26,Google Scholarpi. 11 and fig. 4.

page 373 note 1 Two further metal objects belonging to the same amir are available: an unpublished bowl in the Harari collection which bears inscriptions, ornaments, and blazons very similar to those on the candlestick sometime in the Count Hoyos coll. ( Karabacek, J.,“Ein Damascenischer Leuchter Des Xiv. Jahrhunderts ”, in Repertorium fiir Kunstwissenschaft, vol. i, Stuttgart, 1876, pp. 265–282).Google Scholar A third piece, a salver, belonged to the Siouffi coll. but has not been described (cf. Van Berchem, M., “ Notes d'Archéologie Arabe”,in JA., 1904, p. 80,Google Scholar note). To this group should be added a bowl previously in the Sarre coll. and now belonging to the Berlin Museum (cf. Sarre, F., Erzeugntise Islamischer Kunst, I. Metall, Berlin, 1906, No. 64, pp. 30–31,Google Scholar pi. viii; cf. also Mayer, op. cit., pi. lii and p. 18; Harari, op. cit, vi, pi. 1337 B.

page 374 note 1 Mayer, op. cit., p. 28.

page 374 note 2 Ibid., p. 9.

page 374 note 3 St. John Bayle, Adventures in the Libyan Desert, p. 173, quoted by Creswell, K. A. C., “ The works of Sultan Bibars al-Bunduqdari in Egypt”, in BIFAO., vol. xxvi, 1926, pp. 152, 192;Google Scholar Mayer, op cit., p. 109.

page 374 note 4 Lane-Poole, S., Catalogue of Oriental Coins in the British Museum, vol. iv, London, 1879, No. 604–6, p. 185.Google Scholar

page 374 note 5 Lavoix, H., Catalogue des Monnaies Musulmanes de la Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris, 1896, vol. iii, No. 912–13, pp. 377 f.Google Scholar

page 374 note 6 Mayer, op. cit., pp. 22 and 199.

page 375 note 1 Ibid., p. 18.

page 375 note 2 Ibid., p. 19.

page 375 note 3 Bashkiroff, A. S., Iakustvo Daghestana, Moscow, 1931, pi. 9.Google Scholar

page 375 note 4 Salmony, A., “ Daghestan Sculptures ”, in Ars Islamica, vol. x, 1943, p. 157,Google Scholar figs. 4 and 6.

page 375 note 5 Mayer, op. cit., p. 34.

page 375 note 6 Ibid., p. 22.

page 375 note 7 Ibid., p. 23.

page 376 note 1 Millin, op. cit., ii, pi. xi and p. 63.

page 376 note 2 Mayer, op. cit., pp. 26–7.

page 376 note 3 Ibid., p. 160, pi. xxiii, 3.

page 377 note 1 These pageants will be dealt with in detail in the writer's forthcoming monograph.

page 377 note 2 Harari, op. cit., vol. vi, pi. 1339. This blazon bears some resemblance to that of Abu-1-Fida. Cf. the penbox in the Harari collection, Mayer, op. cit., pp. 46 f., pi. xlix.

page 377 note 3 Mayer, op. cit., p. 41.

page 377 note 4 Ibn Taghribardl, Al-nujûm al-zāhira, Paris MS. Ar. 1783, fo. 77b, quoted by Mayer, op. cit., p. 196.

page 377 note 5 Mayer, L. A., “ Lo blazon de l'amir Salar ”, in JPOS., vol. v, 1925, pp. 58–60,Google Scholar with pi., also Saracenic Heraldry, pp. 196 f.

page 377 note 6 Sauvaget, J., La poste aux chevaiiz dans l'empire des Mamlouks, Paris, 1941, pp. 46Google Scholar ff. and fig. 6 (1–9).

page 377 note 7 Mayer, op. cit., pp. 3–4.

page 378 note 1 Ibid.., p. 198.

page 378 note 2 Van Berchem, M., CIA., Égypte, Paris, 1896, pp. 156–8.Google Scholar

page 379 note 1 Maqrizi, Kitāb al-suluk, ed. Ziyada, Cairo, 1934, vol. i, pp. 656–8.

page 379 note 2 Lane Poole, S., A History of Egypt in the Middle Ages, London, 1914, p. 278Google Scholar note.

page 379 note 3 Mayer, op. cit., pp. 10 and 26.

page 379 note 4 M. van Berchem, CIA., Egypt I, pp. 163 ff.

page 379 note 5 The edict of al-Malik al-Nāsir Muhammad ibn Qalā'ūn which decreed many restrictions for Christians and Jews (A.H. 700/A.D. 1300), must have been still freshin everybody's mind. Among other things, they were forbidden to use Arabic characters for inscriptions on their seals (cf. Qalqashandi, Subh al-a' shā, Cairo, 1918, vol. xiii, pp. 377 ff.). Baybars II was a fanatical partisan of this policy, cf. e.g. Ibn Hajar, Al-durar al-kāmina, vol. i, pp. 502–7. But a basin of Hugh IV Lusignan, King of Cyprus (1324–59), which appears to come from a Syrian or Egyptian workshop, is engraved with large Arabic inscriptions (cf. D'allemagne, H.-R., “ Un bassin de Hugues IV Roi de Chypre et de Jérusalem ”, in C. Enlart, L'Art Gothique en Chypre, Paris, 1899)Google Scholar, and illuminated frontispieces of XlVth-century Coptic Gospels might be mistaken for frontispieces of Arabic Qur'ans; their titles are written in the same calligraphic nas khi or kūfi scripts (cf. Simaika, , A brief guide to the Coptic Museum, Cairo, 1938, p. 9Google Scholar and pi. iv). These and other examples prove that objects destined for the use of non-Muslims were still adorned with Arabic inscriptions.