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Inscriptions


 * Several inscriptions are present on this basin. One Arabic inscription is positioned underneath the basin’s lip and is adorned in silver. The other inscriptions are more concealed within the ornament, engraved on various objects. All of the inscriptions are engraved as cursive calligraphy (naskhi).

Coats of Arms


 * The Baptistery of Saint Louis has sixteen medallions bearing emblems in the interior and exterior animal friezes. These blazons were modified at an unknown date and replaced a fleur de lis, which could make one think that it was a French rectification; however, D.S. Rice believes that this is an Oriental-style fleur de lis, used both in the Ayyubid dynasty and in the Qalâ'ûn house. He also identified the two pieces of furniture originally found on the coats of arms: a lion crawling to the right (present on half of the outer faces) and an element consisting of a circle surmounted by a stem with two rectangles. D. S. Rice speaks of a tamga, that is to say, an identity symbol used since ancient times by the Turk-Mongols. Rice picks up there an identification of L.A. Mayer, but the form knows no equivalent and its owner could not be identified; E. Knauer proposes to see a tamga specially created for Berke, son of Baybars, but without bringing any element allowed to go beyond the stage of the hypothesis. Sophie Makariou prefers to see a key, which links to a coat of arms to a four-keyed cross on the lintel of the monastery of Nicolas-des-Chats in Akrotiri (Cyprus). The lion also poses a problem by its form, since it is never represented as stalking, but always passing, in Islamic heraldry. This challenged his identification as the emblem of the sovereign Baybars; S. Makariou interprets this as the coat of arms of the Lusignan family.
 * Other heraldic elements are present on the object: besides the two scutiformes elements, left virgins until 1821, the boots of the dignitaries carry emblems that could be identified. In the coat of arms there is a fess worn by the characters of the E1 banner Emir Salar's emblem, of whom Rice wanted to acknowledge. However, this attribution is opposed. Other items on the boots have not been identified. It may be wondered whether this is heraldry, or simply insignificant clothing details. The vertical line that is present on some boots, which is also represented on furusiyya manuals, would be a stitch as opposed to an element of blazon.

Wildlife and Plant Life


 * Animal motifs are widely present in the Baptistery of St. Louis and take several forms.
 * Animal elements which are present in the narrative scenes, whether or not they participate in the narrative, consist of a complex composition at the bottom of the pond, with fish and other aquatic animals.
 * Apart from the round of fish, most of the animals belong to the world of hunting. Some animals are prey such as gazelles, ibex, hares, wild boars, lions, bears, foxes, wolves, cheetahs, ducks, and waders, while others are helpers like tame cheetahs, dogs, and hawks. There are other various animals such as dromedaries, elephants, and horses. Also present are imaginary creatures such as griffins, sphinxes, unicorns, and dragons.
 * The round of fish are specifically organized: in the center, six poisons form a radiant pattern around a point. Five concentric circles of fish surround them. However, the general impression is that of a disorder, because between the circles of fish, the artist slipped a varied and disorganized aquatic fauna: ducks, eels, crabs, frogs, a crocodile, a pelican, and two harpies
 * The entire decoration, with the exception of the ornament of the edge of the basin, is on a background of interlaced vegetation. In the animal friezes, foliage is organized in cylindrical windings. In the principal registers, the vegetable ornament seems more free-flowing, with the aim of filling every space. The foliage is accentuated by small palm leaves and palmettes divided into three parts. Leaves, possibly derived from the vine leaf pattern, are present in the interior medallions with escutcheons, as well as five-petalled petals inlaid with gold. On the main registers, there are also large plant stems bearing rows of leaves, with flowers present at the end of the stems. There is also a vegetable with a large flower and another indistinct vegetable which is composed of two palms intersecting they lay between the legs of the characters of the headband.

Manufacturing: Technical and Work Organization

The technique of making this object consists of encrusted metal which is still practiced in Cairo to this day. The artist first develops the shape by hammering the brasson followed by polishing it. Subsequently, he creates the decor, dividing the surface of the basin into decorative divisions, then drawing the figures and foliage. The patterns are then cut with a punch, the artist removes a thin layer of the surface of the metal, and dots the edges of the bowls for a better fixation of the incrustations. When the work with the precious materials begins, the artist penetrates the sheets of copper, silver and gold in the hollows by hammering them, followed by engraving the details. The final step is coating a bituminous black material, which enhances the engravings, highlights the contours, and contrasts with the precious metals.

This technique appears in Islamic lands in the 12th century, probably in eastern Iran, before spreading quickly to the Syrian world. The Ayyubid dynasty, especially the artists of the "School of Mosul," some of whom worked in Damascus had brought this technology to a climax, achieving real pictorial creations; The Mamluks, who came to power in 1250, adopted this tradition to produce works of great luxury in the Bahrite period (1250-1382).

Despite its generally stable state of conservation, the Saint Louis Baptistery has lost part of its encrustations, either because of the wear of time (which is probably the case for the round of fish, used by water) or by vandalism, to recover the precious metal. This phenomenon recovery took place mainly at the end of the 14th century, when the monetary metals were lacking. However, the uninjured works of this fact are often complete.

The organization of work in the workshops remains difficult to understand because of a lack of sources. Although coppersmiths appear more often than other artists to sign their work in Islamic lands. They remain artisans to secondary status, unlikely to attract the attention of scholars. The Baptistery bears the signature of one person named Muhammad ibn al-Zayn, who also put his name on a smaller bowl in the Louvre. LA Mayer emphasizes that some metal double signatures show that there is usually at least one artist putting the work into shape, and another, the Naqqash, decorating. When a name is inlaid in silver letters, it usually means that this person was the “master” and inserter. One such name is Muhammad ibn al-Zayn, Al mu'allim. The use of the term al-mu'allim is found in other pieces of Mamluk inlaid metals such as a piece of furniture in the name of an-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qala'un kept at the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, or a mirror preserved at the Topkapi Museum.

Bibliography


 * Allan J.W., Islamic Metalwork, the Nuhad Es-Said Collection, Londres, Sotheby, 1982.
 * Allan J.W., ((Muhammad ibn al-Zain: Craftsman in Cups, Thrones and Window Grilles? )), Levant, n 28, 1996, p. 199-208
 * Atil E. Art of the Arab World, Washington, Freer Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 1975
 * Europa and the Orient: 800-1900, Sievernich G. et Budde H. (dir), cat. Exp., Berlin, Martin Gropius Bau, 1989; Munich, Bertelsmann Lexikon, 1989.
 * Billot C., Chartes et documents de la Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes (XIV et XV Siècles), Paris, CNRS Editions, 1984.
 * Brunschvig R., ((Metiers vils en Islam)), Studia Islamica, XVI, 1962, p. 41-60.
 * Chapelot J., ((Un Objet d’exception: le baptistère de Saint Louis de la Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes au département des Arts de L'Islam du musée du Louvre)), Bulletin de la Société de Amis de Vincennes, n 58, 2007, p. 5-25.
 * Conermann S., ((Tankiz)), in Encyclopedie de I’Islam, 2nd ed., vol. X, Leyde, Brill, 1998, p. 201.