Rare mortar with two animal head handles and pestle. Cast... Lot 504

Rare mortar with two animal head handles and pestle. Cast bronze with fine engravings, remnants of a red paint finish, beautiful patina with little verdigris. Cylindrical, with console-like upper and lower rim. Two rows of four and six nutes on a wide vine band. Cufic (?) characters and vegetal ornaments around the upper and lower rim. Rings in both animal heads. H 11, W 18.5 cm, weight approx. 4.2 kg. Matching conical pestle with spherical segmental finials, l 23.2 cm. Eastern Iran, 12th - 13th century. Literature A similar mortar in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Acc.No. 13.81. Cf. von Folsach, Kunst fra Islams Verden i Davids Samling, Copenhagen 2001, no. 477.