English: A ROYAL JADE SEAL IN THE NAME OF SHAYKH IBRAHIM II SHIRVANSHAH (r.1502 - 1524)

EAST CAUCASUS OR IRAN, FIRST QUARTER 16TH CENTURY

The circular celadon jade seal inscriped with elegant nasta'liq against a swirling vine, the reverse plain 1 1/4in. (2.7cm.) diam.

Shaykh Ibrahim II (r.1504-1524), for whom this seal was made, was the 40th Shah of Shirvan, today part of the Azarbaijan republic. In 1507, he rebelled against the Safavids, but was forced to make peace again in 1509, after which the Shirvanshahs became parts of the Safavid tributaries. He visited Tabriz in 1518 as a guest of the Safavid Shah, Ismail I. In response to his loyalty, Shah Isma’il offered an engagement between his daughter and Shaykh Ibrahim’s eldest son, Prince Khalil. In 1523, Isma’il Shah married a daughter of Shaykh Ibrahim. There has only ever been a handful of royal seals bearing the name of a ruler at public auction. An imperial carved rock crystal seal of shah Sulayman Safavi was sold in these Rooms, 25 April 2015, lot 126.