Aḥmad ibn 'Umar al-Dhakī al-Mawṣilī was a 13th-century metalworker from Mosul, now in Iraq. [1] He is known from three surviving works over a period of about 20 years from 1223 to 1242–43. [1]: 286–7 He operated an atelier (workshop) with his ghulam Abu Bakr Umar ibn Hajji Jaldak (probably not a slave but more of an assistant). [1]: 286, 317 The epithet "al-Dhaki" means "the sagacious". [1]: 311
D.S. Rice reconstructed al-Dhaki's career as follows. [1]: 320 In the 1220s, al-Dhaki and Ibn Jaldak probably worked in a town under Artuqid control, possibly Amid, since a candlestick made by Ibn Jaldak has an incision marking ownership by "al-Malik al-Mas'ūd" - an epithet of Mawdūd ibn Maḥmūd, the last Artuqid emir of Amid. [1]: 319–20 They were probably not active in Mosul itself, since that was the capital of Badr al-Din Lu'lu', an Artuqid rival. [1]: 320 The Cleveland ewer, along with the two known works of Ibn Jaldak, are all characteristically Mesopotamian in style. [1]: 320 After the fall of the Artuqids in 1232, al-Dhaki appears to have moved to Syria or Egypt, under Mamluk rule, in search of new royal patrons. [1]: 320 The Louvre basin, made sometime before 1240, was still mostly Mesopotamian in style but with some subtle changes that suggest al-Dhaki was adapting his style to suit Syrian/Egyptian fashions. [1]: 320 In the Homberg ewer of 1242, al-Dhaki was further adapting to Syrian trends. [1]: 320
On the other hand, Julian Raby criticized some of Rice's assumptions and argued that, instead, al-Dhaki likely worked in Mosul and his workshop exported items for more distant princes. [2] Raby also noted two symbols that appear on al-Dhaki's works: an octagon filled with complex geometric patterns, and a relief rosette. [2] These also appear on other works by artisans associated with Mosul, leading Raby to claim that "Ahmad al-Dhaki's workshop was intimately connected to others in Mosul" and that "he was surely not in Amid/Diyarbakır in the 1220s, as Rice proposed". [2]
Aḥmad ibn 'Umar al-Dhakī al-Mawṣilī was a 13th-century metalworker from Mosul, now in Iraq. [1] He is known from three surviving works over a period of about 20 years from 1223 to 1242–43. [1]: 286–7 He operated an atelier (workshop) with his ghulam Abu Bakr Umar ibn Hajji Jaldak (probably not a slave but more of an assistant). [1]: 286, 317 The epithet "al-Dhaki" means "the sagacious". [1]: 311
D.S. Rice reconstructed al-Dhaki's career as follows. [1]: 320 In the 1220s, al-Dhaki and Ibn Jaldak probably worked in a town under Artuqid control, possibly Amid, since a candlestick made by Ibn Jaldak has an incision marking ownership by "al-Malik al-Mas'ūd" - an epithet of Mawdūd ibn Maḥmūd, the last Artuqid emir of Amid. [1]: 319–20 They were probably not active in Mosul itself, since that was the capital of Badr al-Din Lu'lu', an Artuqid rival. [1]: 320 The Cleveland ewer, along with the two known works of Ibn Jaldak, are all characteristically Mesopotamian in style. [1]: 320 After the fall of the Artuqids in 1232, al-Dhaki appears to have moved to Syria or Egypt, under Mamluk rule, in search of new royal patrons. [1]: 320 The Louvre basin, made sometime before 1240, was still mostly Mesopotamian in style but with some subtle changes that suggest al-Dhaki was adapting his style to suit Syrian/Egyptian fashions. [1]: 320 In the Homberg ewer of 1242, al-Dhaki was further adapting to Syrian trends. [1]: 320
On the other hand, Julian Raby criticized some of Rice's assumptions and argued that, instead, al-Dhaki likely worked in Mosul and his workshop exported items for more distant princes. [2] Raby also noted two symbols that appear on al-Dhaki's works: an octagon filled with complex geometric patterns, and a relief rosette. [2] These also appear on other works by artisans associated with Mosul, leading Raby to claim that "Ahmad al-Dhaki's workshop was intimately connected to others in Mosul" and that "he was surely not in Amid/Diyarbakır in the 1220s, as Rice proposed". [2]