Damascus: Inlayers of Metalwork

Arabic: Naqqāsh

Date: c. 1230-40

An inlaid incense burner records that it was made by Muhammad ibn Khutlukh al-Mawsili in Damascus. The piece probably dates to c. 1230-40. See also: Copper beater; Copper Founder; Maker of swords.

Citation: Auld, Sylvia, ‘Cross-currents and Coincidences: A Perspective on Ayyubid Metalwork’, in Robert Hillenbrand and Sylvia Auld (eds), Ayyubid Jerusalem: The Holy City in Context, 1187-1250 (London: Altajir Trust, 2009), p. 70.

Date: 1257

An inlaid brass candlestick carries an inscription naming the maker as Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Mawsili. The piece was made in Damascus in 656/1257 for a functionary of the Rasulid ruler of Yemen, al-Malik al-Muzaffar Shams al-Din Yusuf (r. 1250-95). See also: Copper beater; Copper Founder; Maker of swords.

Citation: Delpont, Éric (ed.), L’Orient de Saladin: l’art des Ayyoubides (Paris: Institut du Monde Arabe/Gallimard, 2001), p 148, catalogue number 125; Auld, Sylvia, ‘Cross-currents and Coincidences: A Perspective on Ayyubid Metalwork’, in Robert Hillenbrand and Sylvia Auld (eds), Ayyubid Jerusalem: The Holy City in Context, 1187-1250 (London: Altajir Trust, 2009), p. 69.

Date: 1258-59

An inlaid brass ewer carries as inscription naming the decorator as Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Mawsili and the date of 657/1258-59. The object was made in Damascus for the last Ayyubid ruler of Aleppo, al-Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf (r. 1237-60). See also: Copper beater; Copper Founder; Maker of swords.

Citation: Delpont, Éric (ed.), L’Orient de Saladin: l’art des Ayyoubides (Paris: Institut du Monde Arabe/Gallimard, 2001), p 147, catalogue number 123; Auld, Sylvia, ‘Cross-currents and Coincidences: A Perspective on Ayyubid Metalwork’, in Robert Hillenbrand and Sylvia Auld (eds), Ayyubid Jerusalem: The Holy City in Context, 1187-1250 (London: Altajir Trust, 2009), p. 69.

 

Date: Twelfth to sixteenth

These artisans were located in a street known as Darb al-Niqāsha between Bāb Jayrūn and the market of the seed farmers. Information is drawn from the work of Ibn ʿAsakir (d. 1176), Ibn Shakir (d. 1363), al-Nuʿaymi (d. 1521), al-Hadi (d. 1503), and al-Almawi (d. 1573). See also: Copper founders; Copper beaters; Blacksmiths.

Citation: Elisséeff, Nikita. “Corporations de Damas sous Nūr al-Dīn: Matériaux pour une topographie économique de Damas au XIIe siècle”, Arabica 3.1 (1956): p. 70.

 

Date: 1899

A report dating to 1899 records that beautiful inlaid brass plates and jugs were produced in the Syrian capital. See also: Copper Beater; Copper Founder; Silversmith; Blacksmith.

Citation: R. Oberhummer and H. Zimmerer quoted in Kalter, Johannes, “Urban Handicrafts”, in Kalter, Johannes, Margareta Pavaloi, and Maria Zerrnickel, eds. The Arts and Crafts of Syria: Collection Antoine Touma and Linden-Museum Stuttgart (London and New York: Thames and Hudson, 1992), p. 64.

 

Date: c. 1906

“Factories” for the production of inlaid metalwork are reported by Henry Van Dyke. He notes that children worked at the cutting out of designs and the hammering of silver wire. The designs themselves were drawn by master craftsmen who oversaw the work of the children. See also: Copper Beater; Copper Founder; Silversmith.

Citation: Van Dyke, Henry. Out of Doors in the Holy Land: Impressions of Travel in Body and Spirit, Outdoor Essays IV (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1908, reprinted 1920), pp. 290, 292-93.