are portrayed with their heads turned back and
of the creatures are entwined with the contiguous
their tails intertwined The well-wishing Arabic
addorsed dragons’ tails (fig 36) They are por-
inscriptions are typical of Western Central Asian
trayed with their inner forelegs raised, their wide-
metalwork In the medieval Islamic world inscrip-
open jaws revealing the tongues and the upswept,
tions bestowing blessings on the owner were often
curved wings with tightly curled tip projecting
combined with figural decorations of a symbolic
from the haunches The dragons’ hide is covered
or magical intention,117 in order to magnify the
with scales, the tails knotted at mid-section to
overall apotropaic function intended to benefit
form a figure of eight Importantly, the taper-
the maker and owner of the objects Not least
ing tail tips transform into small dragon heads
because of the epigraphic bands which are typi-
which appear to grasp or snap at the serpentine
cal of Khurasani metalwork, the tray has been
coils 119 An epigraphic frieze around the shoulder
attributed to the first half of thirteenth-century
invokes blessings such as glory, prosperity, per-
northeastern Iran; however on the basis of the
fect health, good fortune, felicity, etc , upon the
creatures’ entwined tails an Anatolian or Jazīran
owner It is notable that the paired dragons have
provenance has recently been suggested 118
close analogies to the dragon figures carved in low
A related composition also fills the inner band
relief on three relief-carved stone panels from
of three zigzag bands that circumscribe the conical
the now destroyed city walls, gates or citadel of
base of a thirteenth-century copper alloy candle-
Konya (618/1221) (fig 60) Like their monumen-
stick base, inlaid with silver, which is preserved
tal cousins, the miniature versions of the dragons
in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New york
on the candlestick base may wel have conveyed an
It comprises bilateral compositions of con fronted
impression of might and good fortune, thus aug-
pairs of quadruped dragons in profile The tail tips
menting the impact of the epigraphic blessings
117 Cf Kerner, 2004, pp 218–9 and ns 79, 80
the piece was in the collection of N Anavian
118
119
Ivanov, 2004, p 174 The tray is published in the exhi-
Cf d’Avennes, 1877, pl 161–5, fig 3; Dimand, 1926,
bition catalogue Islam and the Medieval West, 1975, cat no
p 197, fig 5
58 Dimensions 8 inch square At the time of publication
dragons and the powers of the earth
49