Metalwork in the Near East and Central
Asia has
always enjoyed a prestige beyond that of
other
applied arts such as ceramics and
textiles. Major
pieces were specially commissioned and
often
bear dedications to the princes and
great nobles
for whom they were made, together with
the
proudly inscribed names of their makers
and
decorators; their very durability and
impressive
appearance give them a high standing and
dignity of their own. The best pieces
were in
bronze, either engraved, inlaid,
overlaid or
beaten in repousse', that is hammered
out from
behind of designs to appear in relief on
the
surface. The roots of Islamic metalwork
are to be
found in Byzantium and Persia. In the
early 7th
century the Arabs took over these two
great
empires and absorbed local metal
techniques and
typologies, and contributed to a new
development in metalwork by adding
inscriptions
in kufic script. Not much is known of
the art of
metalwork in Persia and Central Asia in
the early
Islamic period, with the exception of
few large
dishes datable to the Ghaznavids.
The Ghaznavids started as Turkish slave
governors of the
Samanids in the Afghanistan area around
Ghazna, which
became an important cultural centre
under their rule. Due
to the previous Persian influences, the
Turkic Ghaznavids
became fully Persianised. Shah Mahmud
expanded their
empire from India to Iran. The
Ghaznavids lost Iran to the
Seljuks, and much of Afghanistan to the
Gurids who
sacked Ghazna in 1151. The capital was
moved to Lahore
until it was captured by the Ghurids in
1186.
The objects produced under the
Ghaznavids often contained a high
percentage
of tin. Although this type of “high-tin
bronze” was difficult to manipulate
because of its hardness, it was favored
because of its likeness to silver. The
exterior of this bowl has been decorated
with bands of foliate and fauna motifs.
The center is marked by the presence of
Al-Buraq, the mythological winged
creature that carried Muhammed on his
Night Journey.
Ghazna was an important centre of
metalwork production
and culture. The great poet Ferdawsi
dedicated his
Shahnameh to Mahmud of Ghazna.
