Heidelberg University Publishing

Abstract Artefacts produced in the Islamicate world during the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates (ca. mid-7th ‒ mid-13th century) includes a rela­tively small number of signatures, which increases significantly from the 10th–11th centuries onward. Inscribed signatures tend to be concise and stan­dardised across places, times and media, and gen­erally convey little information about the crafts­man and the context of production. Nevertheless, devoting equal attention to the textual content and visual effect of the signature, and consider­ing these integrally with the object and its techno­logical features may inform artisanal skills and the role of the signer in the production process. The present paper focuses on case studies se­lected from the repertoire of 10th to 13th-century metalwork produced in the Iranian region and fosters some reflections on the artisan agent and the mark of his work. The pieces are chosen for the presence of signatures that diverge from the standard in terms of technical, visual or textual features. They span from utilitarian copper caul­drons produced in series and bearing the marks of their fabricator to some fine pieces of metalwork inlaid with silver, allegedly signed by their decora­tor or by the individuals involved in the commis­sioning, conception and sale. This re-examination of a small corpus of objects challenges some con­flicting conclusions reached in previous studies and offers multi-faceted perspectives on epi­graphic signatures in Arabic and Persian, their semiotic and decorative functions.

Keywords Artisans’ Signatures; Medieval Craftsmanship; Islamic Epigraphy; Iranian Metalwork