Weiner Mihályné szerk.: Az Iparművészeti Múzeum Évkönyvei 8. (Budapest, 1965)
HOPP FERENC MÚZEUM — MUSÉE FERENC HOPP - Ferenczy, László: A Saljuk bronze from Iran. A present from Sir Aurel Stein
Richard Ettinghausen, reporting on this tray, supposes that it has at least one feature pointing to the metalwork of Khurasan : the engraved image of a vase. The Khurasanian origin of the Welch tray is made more certain by the ornamentation of its rim with petals : this ornament appears on several 11—13th centuries metal trays from Uzbekistan. 33 It is on these trays that representations of sphinxes, siren-birds and other animal figures occur most frequently. There are two analogous motifs to be mentioned on all the three parts of the Stein bronze : the bands of inscriptions bordered by double engraved lines with concave closings, and the round medallions separating the inscriptions. They frequently occur on Islamic metal objects from the 12—14th centuries like crescent-shaped heraldic crests. 34 Mayer considers it possible that these emblems represent not the crescent but horseshoes used in the East. In this case they would have symbolized the shield of stable overseers. 35 Egyptian and Arabic heraldry, however, did not spread in Iran generally. J. Miller has been recently concerned with spheric ornaments and double wave-lines applied together, tracing them back to Sasanian art: The motif of three spheres occurs on post-Sasanian silver objects and ceramics of the 11—13th centuries. He is of the opinion that later, in the Turkish art of the 15—17th centuries, spheres in such combinations represented the pattern of tiger's or panther's hide, along with their cultic meaning supposedly. 36 The separation of bands with inscriptions by round medallions and their concave closings may be found on Iranian silver objects from the 11— 12th centuries as well as on bronzes from the 12—13th centuries, where they occur rather frequently. Since we failed to find an exact analogue to the bronze presented by Sir Aurel Stein, we cannot be certain of its purpose. The very size and ornamentation of the upper tray rule out its having been a candlestick. Most probably it is an incense-burner or simply a bowl or dish. We may also suggest that since its form points to the pre-Islamic period the object might have served some ritual purpose. Two different possibilities exist in this respect: on Turkestan frescoes we find a kind of lamp and incense-burner with a broad, round stand, a cylindrical holder and a cup-like part at the top. 37 On frescoes of Piandjikent, on the other hand, there is an altar-like incense-burner standing on the floor ; it is large and has a spherical middle part. Its stand broadens downward in a funnel shape and on its top there is a round plate on which a smaller dish was placed. 38 The earlier portable variations of this kind of incense-burner occured in several parts of Central Asia after the Kushan period, as well as among the 33 nyzcPteHKoea, r.A.: Op. cit., p. 159, Fig. 16, 19, 20, PI. 192. 34 See for instance Rice, D. S.: Studies in Islamic metalwork, I. BSOAS Vol. XIV. 1952. p. 565. 3 * Mayer, L. A.: Saracenic heraldry. Oxford, 1933. p. 42. Pis. XLII/5, XLVII/2. 36 MuAAep, K).: 0 npoHcxo>KACHHH OAHOTO H3 sjieivieHTOB Typeinxoro opHa.weHTa. CoofïmeHHH Toc. 3pMHTa>Ka. XXIII, 1962. p. 50-52. 37 Le Coq: Bilderatlas zur Kunst- und Kulturgeschichte Mittelasiens. Berlin, 1935. p. 41, Fig. 11.; Grünwedel, A.: Altbuddhistische Kultstätten in Chinesisch-Turkestan. Berlin, 1912. p. 123, Fig. 272. 38 HÍHBonucb ApeBHero ÜHiiAWCHKeHTa. Moscow, 1954. Pl. VII, VIII.
