Basin depicting Alexander the Great

This basin in enamelled bronze which has been in the collection of Emperor Ferdinand of Tyrol since the 16^th century has two delicate handles and rests on a small circular base. Unique in Islamic arts, the basin is in the form of a gemellion, a receptacle used in ritual ablutions. Its manufacture was intensively developed in Limoges (France) in the 13^th and 14^th centuries. In addition to its atypical form, cloisonné enamel which decorates both its inner and outer surfaces is a technique rare in Islamic arts. It consists of placing enamel inside compartments or cells which are made by soldering wire (here gilded copper) onto the support (here bronze). The technique of Byzantine origin was probably brought to the Mediterranean in the 11^th century. In Islamic arts, this technique was principally associated with jewellery in Fatimid Egypt and the Islamic West. However, whereas the enamel of this basin has been made opaque by the addition of iron oxide and has been applied on bronze, enamel found in the Mediterranean Basin is generally translucent and applied on gold or silver.

The use of polychrome enamel has produced a rich ornamentation which covers the entire surface of the basin. The composition is identical on both faces: six medallions surround a central medallion (which is empty on the reverse side). On the lip of the basin, an inscription in white against a blue ground sets out the name of the patron, the Artudiq sultan Rukn al-Dawla Da’ud (r. c.1109-1144), with an error in the inscription of his title. The medallions around the edge on a white ground decorated with coloured foliage depict the following: animals in combat (an eagle and rabbit, a griffon and dog, a griffon and horse); eagles with folded or unfolded wings, each holding a serpent in its claws; wrestlers and drinkers. Set between the medallions, on a blue ground decorated with coloured foliage, stylised palm trees flanked by wild creatures and birds alternate with small animated figures of dancers with veils, acrobats, musicians and cupbearers. In the centre, a medallion with a scallop-edged border depicts the apotheosis of Alexander the Great, as a crowned man seated on a chariot drawn by griffons. The episode appears to be drawn from Roman d’Alexandre in which the King is carried through the Caucasus in a chariot drawn by eagles.

Alexander the Great is a recurrent figure in Islamic literary tradition. Considered to be the model of a wise and pious ruler, it was the great writer Firdausi who, in the 10^th century in his Shahname (Book of Kings), established Alexander’s connection to the Persian royal dynasty[1]. The central figure of the basin is distinguished by medallions depicting animal combats (an iconography already present in the ancient Orient) and an eagle symbolising sovereign power. There are also peripheral scenes representing princely entertainments. Thus, these images contribute to a symbolic iconography, a paean to a Turkish monarch identified with the figure of the great Iskandar (Alexander).

This work is unique in Islamic art. Its maker, a master of the cloisonné enamel technique, seems to have had some difficulty with the title of its Turkish patron. As for its iconography, there are many possible parallels in Islamic arts[2]. Its form is problematic. It is the earliest extant example of gemellion: the form may have reached the Limousin through contacts between the Artuqids and crusaders. Produced in Northern Syria, Anatolia or Georgia and the work possibly of a Muslim trained in Byzantium or a Christian conversant with Islamic traditions, it is the fruit of the numerous exchanges which occurred in Anatolia between Turkish, Iranian, Byzantine and Balkan cultures.

[2] Byzantine sculpted ivory plaque, C9^th – C 10^th, Darmstadt, Heeiechen Landesmuseum, n° Kg. 54:215, a-d ; Byzantine diadem in cloisonné enamel, C9^th – C12^th, Kiev, National Museum; ceiling of the Palatine Chapel in Palermo.