Country of origin and what is it?

[AGHEAD]

Hello, I found this giant silver plated copper item. It had been displayed as a wall hanging but I'm not sure that was its original purpose. It is very big, 46 inches long and 35 inches tall, weighs 21 pounds. The item has some high relief repousse work along with very detailed chasing. It appears to have been silver plated (now quite of bit of that is lost) but portions appear to have not been plated. Anyhow, I thought the item was interesting and wanted to save it from the copper scrappers melting it down. If anyone can help decipher the country of origin, purpose, and what the item is depicting it would be most helpful.

[WarrenKundis]

Good Day,

It's a table top that can be hung on the wall when not in use. The design motif is Persia or Iran silver plate and/or pewter over copper. There are approximately fifteen men wearing turbans, some sitting others standing about talking. Even though there are dishes on the tables does not appear to be a banquet, light refreshments as they discuss poetry possibly.

Could be wrong but from the number of acscent marks in the calligraphy in some of the numerous cartouche it appears to be Qur'anic Arabic meaning verses from the Holy Qur'an. Image #2 is upside down. The cartouche under or within the scene may give us a clue.

Good save, hope this helps.
Warren

[AGHEAD]

Thanks for input. It is quite interesting, the men in central image are mostly huddled around one man who is lying on bed or cot. One is fanning him, one appears to be holding bowl of water, another is appears to be doing something to him with his hands. Next to him is a small table with bowls and medical devices (maybe 10 items). On either side of the sick man there is one man holding is hand. Towards his feet there is another man rubbing the tops of his feet or ankle. All then men are bearded with the exception of the hand holders and foot rubber which only have mustaches. In the back ground there are seven people watching and a few running around.

You had pointed out that the text was likely Qur'anic Arabic and with the details in the scene I wonder if this scene is depicting the death of Muhammad, I know he was poisoned and it took several days for him to die and many of his followers sat by his side before he died. If so then one would have to guess this would be Shia in origin, making Iran the likely place it was created.

[WarrenKundis]

As a practicing Muslim I can tell you that story is Absoultely false, the Prophet (peace be upon him) was not poisoned. There were artistic traditions in Islamic history that did portray the Prophet as a way of teaching the history of the religion with the emphasis on history. He was always portrayed with a vail over his face.
More likely a prince, poet, or scholar.

Assalamo-Alaikum
Warren

[WarrenKundis]

Salaam AGHEAD!

Was not rocket science but it did turn out to be brain surgery. According to Dr Khan and others the cartouche directly below the scene reads as follows:

"Scene from the operation of surgery of the brain by the hands of scholar known as Bou Ali Sina."

In the West the Persian scholar is known as Avicenna. Here is a link to a Wikipedia article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avicenna

Muslim science in action!
Assalamo-Alaikum
Warren

[AGHEAD]

Thanks for the additional information it is most interesting.

[amena]

Hi Warren
I find that the piece is very intriguing and your explanation very interesting.
Can you hazard a dating?
Regards
Amena

[WarrenKundis]

Good morning Amena,


Early 20th century and that would be just a guess. It's interesting that the pewter is very thin, had a small piece that I attempted to clean just to see what it would do. Went right through it very quickly to the copper layer. On this piece the copper is exposed as part of the design. Most likely makes using anything beyond soap and water harzardous.

Lovely piece
Warren

[AGHEAD]

I had assumed it was silver plate, but it does not test silver. The back side is actually entirely silver in color but it has brush stokes on it as if it were painted. The front side edges also have what appear to be brush strokes but that might be sloppy painting from the backside. I took another close look at the contrasting between the silver color and the copper color, yes the silver color layer is quite thin, there are very, very fine details within the copper that show silver in the indentations. Maybe they used a thin plating across the entire front surface so it would be easy to remove the silver color from the portions that were to be the contrasting copper as well as have all of the tiny indentations silver in color.

[WarrenKundis]

Right AGHEAD,

It may actually be more correct to refer to it as white metal or pot metal, it's actually content being unknown. May have actually appeared silver like when new but turns grey as it ages. The small piece I mentioned in my last post here has the same brush strokes on the back you mention and did not really polish well. Another piece, an unmarked vase, polished well but did show one small spot of copper coming through which indicated to me that it was in fact silver-plate.

As you look back through some of the older posts here at 925 you can get a better idea of what Persian silver hallmarks and makers marks look like. Your piece is still extremely decorative with the central cartouche, numerous calligraphic passages running around the inner edge, and the floral motif through out.

Enjoy!
W

[annasttasiaaa]

Thanks for input. It is quite interesting, the men in central image are mostly huddled around one man who is lying on bed or cot. One is fanning him, one appears to be holding bowl of water, another is appears to be doing something to him with his hands. Next to him is a small table with bowls and medical devices (maybe 10 items). On either side of the sick man there is one man holding is hand. Towards his feet there is another man rubbing the tops of his feet or ankle. All then men are bearded with the exception of the hand holders and foot rubber which only have mustaches. In the back ground there are seven people watching and a few running around.

You had pointed out that the text was likely Qur'anic Arabic and with the details in the scene I wonder if this scene is depicting the death of Muhammad, I know he was poisoned and it took several days for him to die and many of his followers sat by his side before he died. If so then one would have to guess this would be Shia in origin, making Iran the likely place it was created.

The one who was poisoned to death was in fact Mohammad's oldest grandson! However, i agree with warren. This tray is for sure telling a different story...