Question about a motif.

[mariusgmioc]

Originally Posted by kwiatek

I would suggest the date rather as

سنه (٠٠)١٢

"Year 12(00)”

1200=1785-6

What people have read as two zeros/fives are part of the decoration/flowers. A zero would be a small diamond-shaped dot ۰ , like the one above the letter nun here, and a five would be a heart shape ۵ . I would rather suggest that the two zeros after 12 are implied rather than written

Thank you Kwiatek for your very interesting opinion.

However, this time, I beg to differ.

It is possible that the round "flower" after the numerals "١٢" (meaning 12) is simply for decoration but I believe it represents the numeral "٥" (meaning 5), only it was made to look as a flower for aesthetical reasons.

If one examines the carved cartouche, one may notice that all the other flowers are either outside or in line with the outline of the branch, and are slightly smaller. The only "flower" that is inside is the one following the numerals "١٢" and I believe this is for a reason. The same holds for the cartouche above where all four flowers are in line with the outline of the branch and are smaller.

So I believe the carver wrote "١٢٥" (meaning 125) but but wrote it in a more decorative form.

Moreover, the elaborate style of the carving definitely belongs to the 19th century and not to the 18th.

Last but not least, the type of the wootz is not consistent with the Kara Taban or Kara Khorasan with fine watering streaks used predominantly in the 18th century. This type of "crystalline" wootz appeared approximately at the beginning of 19th century (based on my own observations).