‘I am a makhfiyya for serving food’. Islamic prototypes and some Byzantine and Western depictions of them

Inscribed hemispherical cups and stem cups, respectively resting on splayed and trumpet-shaped feet, are typical metalworks of Islamic manufacture produced from Iran to the Jazīra in the 12th and 13th centuries. The hemispherical cups may or may not have had lids and some of them were especially intended for serving food, such as the ‘talking makhfiyya’ portrayed in the famous Mamluk basin known as the Baptistère de Saint Louis. It is interesting to compare these prototypes with some Islamic specimens depicted in a few coeval Byzantine and Western sculptures and paintings most likely in order to create a suitable setting for Biblical and Christian episodes that occurred in regions which at the time were ruled by Muslims and thus identifiable through their material culture.