SIGNED MUHAMMAD MEHDI AL-YAZDI, IRAN, CIRCA 1660

Details

A FINE SAFAVID BRASS ASTROLABE
SIGNED MUHAMMAD MEHDI AL-YAZDI, IRAN, CIRCA 1660
The brass mater with throne decorated with calligraphic cartouche, suspension shackle above, the rim graduated 0-360° by 1° with larger markings every 5°, with five plates elegantly engraved on both sides each bearing stereographic projections except for one marked with hours for prayer, all with inscriptions in elegant naskh on ground of scrolling vine, altitude circles every six degrees, azimuth arcs every ten degrees, the rete with 44 named star pointers, the reverse of the mater with shadow square and projection for triganometrical calculations, gazetteer to the back plate of the mater, the edge with further naskh inscription

3½in. (9cm.) diam.; 4 5/8in. (11.6cm.) high (excluding shackle)

Engraved

On the kursi on the front: Qur'an II, sura al-baraka, v.255 (Ayat al-Kursi)
Around the edge: a call on God to bless the 14 innocents
On the kursi on the back: Qur'an VI, sura al-an'am, v.59 (partly erased)
In the lobed cartouche on the back: namaqahu muhammad mahdi al-yazdi al-khadim, 'Muhammad Mehdi al-Yazdi al-Khadim decorated it'
In the long cartouche on the back: a hemistich from the introduction to the Gulistan, 'arz-e naqshist kaz ma baz manad, 'The intention of the design is that it should endure'

Sale room notice

Please note that the Gulf Cooperation Council has imposed a ban on the importation of Iranian goods to or via its member states. Please check with your shippers whether you will be able to ship Iranian artworks to the GCC member states prior to purchase.

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Sara Plumbly

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Lot Essay

The five plates are engraved with stereographic projections for latitudes 20°, 23°, 32°, 34°, 26°, 37°, 30°, 29° and 42°.

Another astrolabe by Muhammad Mehdi al-Yazdi is in the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford (inv.46886; https://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/collections/imu-search-page/record-details/?TitInventoryNo=46886=field=on=1665). J.A.Billmeir, a renowned collector of scientific instruments, wrote of another astrolabe signed by Muhammad Mehdi ‘in spite of the most elaborate ornamentation the mathematical accuracy of the engraving is unimpaired’ (Scientific Instruments (13th-19th Century): The Collection of J. A. Billmeir Esq., Frank Patridge & Sons, London, 1954, no.5, p.11). The same could apply to this instrument. Other astrolabes by Muhammad Mehdi al-Yazdi have sold in these Rooms, 20 October 2016, lot 46 and at Sotheby’s, 6 October 2010, lot 150.

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