If I Circumambulate Around Him, I Will Be Burnt: A Brass Candlestick Endowed to the Mausoleum of Imam Musa al-Kazim, Kazimayn

Figures & data

Figure 1. Doha candlestick. Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, inv. no. MW.152.1999. c. 1600, Iran. Brass; cast and engraved; h. 32 cm, d. 19 cm. © Museum of Islamic Art, Doha.

Figure 2. (a–d) Close-up of Doha candlestick, medallions containing animal-combat scenes above the projection. © Museum of Islamic Art, Doha.

Figure 3. (a–d) Close-up of Doha candlestick, cartouches with inscriptions above the projection. © Museum of Islamic Art, Doha.

Figure 4. (a–d) Close-up of Doha candlestick, medallions containing animals below the projection. © Museum of Islamic Art, Doha.

Figure 5. (a–d) Close-up of Doha candlestick, cartouches with inscriptions below the projection. © Museum of Islamic Art, Doha.

Figure 6. Waqf inscription on Doha candlestick, photographed from the bottom. © Museum of Islamic Art, Doha.

Figure 7. Drawing of Waqf inscription on Doha candlestick (drawing by the author).

Figure 8. Close-up of the field of the Medallion and Animal Carpet. Miho Museum, SS1308. c. 1580–1620s, Iran. © Miho Museum.

Figure 9. Flask inscribed with animal motifs and Persian verses. State Hermitage Museum, inv. no. VC-701. 1014/1605–6, Iran. Brass; cast and engraved; h. 43.3 cm © The State Hermitage Museum. Photo by Vladimir Terebenin.

Figure 10. Bowl inscribed with animal motifs, Persian verses and the Arabic prayer to the Fourteen Infallibles. State Hermitage Museum, inv. no. IR-2260. 999/1590–91, Iran. Brass; cast and engraved; h. 25 cm, d. 47 cm. © The State Hermitage Museum. Photo by Vladimir Terebenin.

Figure 11. Ewer inscribed with animal motifs. Victoria and Albert Museum, inv. no. 458-1876. 1011/1602–3, Iran. Brass; cast and engraved; h. 32 cm, d. 19 cm. © Victoria and Albert Museum.

Figure 12. Sotheby’s candlestick. Current whereabouts unknown. 1007/1598–99, Iran. Brass; cast and engraved; h. 37.5 cm, d. 30.5 cm. After Sotheby’s, Arts of the Islamic World, London, 14 April 2010, 115, lot no. 159. Background photoshopped by the current author.

Figure 13. Close-up of waqf inscription on Sotheby’s candlestick. After Canby, Shah ʿAbbas, 202, pl. 103.

Figure 14. Kashan-Samarra torch stand. Iraq Museum, inv. no. 10469. 969/1561–62, Iran (possibly Kashan). Brass; cast and engraved. After Melikian-Chirvani, Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World, 265, fig. 65.

Figure 15. Kashan-Mashhad torch stand. Astan-i Quds Razavi, inventory number not available. c. 1560–1600, Iran (possibly Kashan). Brass; cast and engraved;.h. 43 cm. After Shayistahfar and Muhammadian, “Barrasi-yi nuqush,” 59, fig. 6.

Table 1. Candleholders produced in Iran, possibly Kashan, donated to the mausolea of Twelver Shiʿite Imams, c. 1560–1610.

Object	Kashan-Mashhad torch stand	Kashan-Samarra torch stand	Sotheby’s candlestick	Doha candlestick
Current location	Museum of Astan Quds Razavi, inv. no. n.a. (Figure 15).	Iraq Museum, inv. no. 10469 (Figure 14)	Current whereabouts unknown (Figure 12 and 13)	Museum of Islamic Art inv. no. MW.152.1999 (Figure 1–7)
Destination of endowment	Mausoleum of Imam ʿAli al-Riza, Mashhad (Iran)	Joint mausoleum of Imam ʿAli al-Naqi and Imam Husayn al-ʿAskari, Samarra (Iraq)	Mausoleum of Imam Musa al-Kazim, Kazimayn (Iraq)	Mausoleum of Imam Musa al-Kazim, Kazimayn (Iraq)
Endower	Muḥammad b. ʿAli al-Husayni Kashani	Shams al-Din Katibi Kashi	Khizr ibn Baba Chulaki Nihavandi, the vizier of Kashan between 1001/1592–93 and 1016/1607	Aqa Vali Khan b. Qasim ʿAli
Date	n/a (c. 1560–1600)	969/1561–62	1007/1598–99	n/a (c. 1600)
Poetical inscriptions in Persian	Unidentified	Ahli Turshizi, ghazal	–	Doha verse A (identified as verses by Khalifa Asadullah) + Doha verse B (identified as verses by Najm al-Din al-Razi)
Figural representations	–	–	Animal medallions	Animal medallions

Figure 16. Backside of brass magic bowl signed as “the work of Husayn Kashani”. State Hermitage Museum, inv. no. IR-2192. 3 Shaʿban 959/25 July 1552, Iran (possibly Kashan). Brass; cast and engraved. © The State Hermitage Museum. Photo by Vladimir Terebenin.