Middle East, Metalwork. Basin, brass with engraved decoration, blazons and Arabic titles of Nasir al-Din Sidi Muhammad, son of Sayf al-Din Uzbak, a general in the service of Sultan Qaytbay, Mamluk Egypt, 1482-1498.

Brass basin engraved with the blazons and titles of Sidi Muhammad, son of Saif al-Din Uzbak, a general in the service of the Mamluk Sultan Qaytbay. Compartmentalised decoration consistining of flower blossoms, lotuses and geometrical motifs.

According to the two inscriptions on the basin, the person who commissioned it was Sidi Muhammad, son of Uzbak min Tutukh. The last title in the inscription is "al-Maliki al-Ashrafi", which refers to their allegiance to the Mamluk ruler Sultan Qa'itbay (r. 1468-86), whose regnal name was al-Malik al-Ashraf. According to Mayer, Uzbak min Tutukh, who died in 1499, is referred to in terms that suggest he, too, was still alive when the basin was made.

Mayer gives the terminus post quem as 1482, as Sayyid Muhammad was elevated to the rank of Amir of Ten in that year and would presumably have started to use the type of titulature used on the basin at this time.

206-1892