Candlestick

The candlestick bears the signature of the craftsman Ali ibn Umar al-Sankari al-Mawsili. The dense ornamentation contains human figures in procession, the twelve signs of the zodiac and pairs of birds . An inscription mentions the titles of an unnamed ruler, possibly an Artukid of Mardin . The second owner of the candlestick was Mirzan Aqa, the Mongol governor of Baghdad , who sometime before 1374, attempted to erase the human figures before offering it to the sanctuary of the Prophet in Medina. From Northern Syria or Iraq , 1317/18 (AH 717) H 53 cm (ΓΕ 13038)