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Mamluk pen box by Ahmad al Dhaki
Detail of rear of a Mamluk cavalryman
Detail of front of a Mamluk cavalryman
Pen-box, 1304, Egypt or Syria
Hammered quaternary alloy (copper, tin, zinc, lead), engraved decoration, gold, re-engraved silver and “black paste” inlays.
The three cursive inscriptions decorating this pen-box are lines of esoteric verse celebrating the pen-box and the reed-pen (qalam).
Former Albert Sorlin-Dorigny collection
Musée du Louvre Department of Islamic Art OA 3621. New link: Louvre
Referenced as figure 647 in The military technology of classical Islam by D Nicolle
647. Metal pen-case by Ahmad al Dhakī (?), 1304 AD, Mamluk Syrian, Louvre, Paris.
Referenced on p.16, The Mamluks - 1250-1517 by David Nicolle:
Armoured figures are rarely shown from the rear, but here, on an inlaid bronze pen-case made in 1304 in Syria by Ahmad al Dhaki, the way in which a lamellar jawshan cuirass opened down the back is clearly portrayed. (Louvre Mus., inc. 3621, Paris)