(piano music)
^Steven: We're in the magnificent new
^Islamic Art Galleries at the Louvre in Paris.
We're looking at one of their treasures.
It's an object that was used to
baptize the children of the royal family
of France for centuries but it
wasn't originally a French object.
Beth: No, it actually comes from the area
of Egypt and Syria and it dates to
between 1320 and 1340.
^Steven: It was created by Mamluk artisans.
^The Mamluks had been slave warriors
^and they had asserted their independence and
^had been able to rule in the countries that
^are today Egypt and Syria
^for several hundred years.
During that period, they became known
as extraordinary craftsmen.
They were known especially for their
textile work and for their metal work.
This is a premier example.
Beth: Normally, vessels like this
would have large bands of calligraphy.
This one doesn't.
This one is filled with figures
and animals and decorative patterning.
Steven: The only part that is not completely
covered are the bottom few inches
of the walls of the inside of the basin.
Even the floor of the basin is
completely covered. Let's start there.
Beth: There is a very abstract
pattern there of sea animals.
Steven: These are very complex
interconnected designs similar to tile work.
Beth: The basin is brass.
It's got areas of silver and gold
and black paste.
I see eels in silver at the bottom.
Steven: Above that, we see first a
continuous band of animals that parade
around the inner wall and then a wide
frieze of men on horseback interspersed
by animals as well as medallions,
figures that are clearly rulers,
as well as coats of arms.
Beth: There are two rulers.
They sit frontally. They both hold goblets.
The figures in between seem to be hunting
but also scenes of battle.
We see limbs and we see a
decapitated head so there's violence here.
Steven: The largest frieze is on the exterior.
Beth: There we see four figures in roundels.
Each on horseback, slightly different.
Two of them are hunting.
Steven: Another one is drawing his bow.
Then the last seems to be processing,
perhaps holding a club.
Beth: There are figures on either side
of the roundels, sometimes four,
sometimes five, all in procession
toward the royal figures.
Steven: These figures are doing all kinds
of interesting things.
I'm looking at one, for example, that seems to
be holding a leopard by a leash.
Another seems to raise a goblet
in one hand, perhaps in celebration
and holding a vessel in the other.
The figures are so dense that it
actually takes time to be able to
untangle the complex interwoven forms.
Beth: On the very bottom band, there are
small roundels that carry Fleur-de-lis.
The Fleur-de-lis is the symbol of
the royal family of France.
Interestingly, it was also associated
with a Mamluk Sultan.
Art historians think these may have
been reworked when they came to France.
There are other alterations that make us
think that the person who commissioned
this was not the person who it was
ultimately delivered to.
Steven: As you mentioned before, generally
we would expect to see Islamic inscriptions.
That would have been very common
but they're absent here.
There's some speculation that this may
have been made for somebody who
was not a Muslim.
Perhaps it was even made for export.
Beth: The iconography is very complicated
and art historians have not untangled it yet.
Steven: Look how rich the imagery is
just under the rim.
I can see a unicorn, an elephant.
I can see a leopard, a camel, an antelope.
Beth: All processing, all running, all jumping.
There's such movement and energy
not only in the decorative forms which
move in and out but also in the figures.
Steven: There is a little bit of Arabic
inscription, the signature of the artist.
We can see that just under the rim.
Beth: Actually, he signed it six times,
so maybe he was especially proud of it.
His name was ibn al-Zain and actually the Louvre
has another work by this great Mamluk artist.
(piano music)