Mahmud al-Kurdi (Master Mahmud the Kurd)
Northwest Iran
15th–16th century
Brass, hammered, chased and inlaid with silver
7.6 x 15.8 cm
This box is signed by the master craftsman Mahmud al- Kurdi, whose name appears on many pieces of export metalwork. Unique amongst his signed boxes, it bears his
name (on the rim) in both Arabic and Roman script. The latter is a transliteration of the Arabic and reads the ‘work of the master Mahmud’. His pieces all feature densely inlaid patterns of thin silver wire.