An Inkwell (dawāt) with Eight-Petalled Rosettes
c. 1200-1225
Western Iran or northern Mesopotamia
10.5 cm (height) x 8.2 cm, (diameter); Inkwell, cast copper alloy inlaid with silver and copper, with deep
well, flat base, slightly waisted cylindrical form with three hinged handles tapering off to flat ribbed rim.
A nearly identical inkwell, with matching form, dimensions, and inlaid decoration with eight-petalled rosettes, is held in the Khalili Collection. The appearance of the distinctive rosette motifs on this matching pair of inkwells probably reflects the westward migration of metalworking forms from eastern Iran and Afghanistan at the time of, or just before, the Mongol invasions, and further suggests a firm dating of this inkwell to the first quarter of the thirteenth century.
