The period from the eighth to the tenth century constituted the final stage in the development of the pre-Islamic, early medieval tradition of metal-working in Khurasan and Transoxania, but features of a new style were also taking shape. The magnificent silver-gilt artefacts produced at various centres in the two regions date from this period. There are well-proportioned jugs with narrow necks and wide pear-shaped bodies, spoon-shaped hemispherical cups and round flat plates and small jugs of various shapes decorated with relief, embossed and engraved ornament (Figs. 5 and 6). The themes represented on the artefacts still include pre-Islamic motifs going back to early Sogdian and Sasanian traditions, but the craftsmen subordinated these motifs to decorative ends. The elimination of the local artistic features that distinguished the different schools began at this time and a new, more unified style developed which reflected the trends of a new age. This can be clearly seen in the decoration of an elegant silver cup, made in Transoxania in the tenth century, the base of which depicts a bird-man holding a grapevine while an Arabic inscription in praise of wine circles the rim of the cup (Fig. 7). The traditions of the Sogdian style with its more substantial, plastic approach to form are fused in the design of this cup with the new style of the Islamic caliphate, based on clear rhythmic structures and decorative patterns.

The artistic style of the applied arts in Khurasan and Transoxania began to change from the middle of the eleventh century, as the decorative principle established its supremacy. New forms of bronze and copper artefacts also began to appear from that time: spherical jugs with engraved or faceted necks, rectangular trays (Fig. 8), small cylindrical ink-wells and mortars, hemispherical cups and bronze mirrors. By the twelfth century they were decorated with stylized animals and birds intertwined with patterned designs. Engraving became the most common technique for the application of ornament, being best suited to achieving the smooth, carpet-like quality of pattern that was the standard during that period. Work in relief became increasingly rare. The technique of incrustation with silver thread was used in Khurasan from the twelfth century onwards, but never became common in Transoxania. The shift in style which occurred in the eleventh century affected more than just decorative techniques: the profile of the vessels also changed noticeably, developing from unprepossessing, rather bulky outlines to more elegant, smoother contours and balanced proportions.

Particularly popular decorative motifs for the bronze ware of the eleventh and twelfth centuries included winged sphinxes and goats, griffins, human-headed birds, hunting scenes and enthronements. The animal world was represented by images of hares, dogs, fallow deer and cheetahs in hunting scenes and also by birds and fish shown in medallions with no thematic context. These engraved images consisted of individual cartouches or round medallions which formed a discontinuous ring around the bodies of tall jugs and hemispherical cups. The widespread use of geometric decoration and epigraphic inscriptions was an innovation. Over the course of time the inscriptions became stylized and indecipherable, transformed into a sort of ‘graphic ornament’.

The incrustation of bronze artefacts is practically never encountered in Transoxania in the pre-Mongol period, whereas the works produced by the craftsmen of Khurasan (Merv and Herat) provide eloquent testimony to their mastery of that technique. One of the masterpieces of medieval metal-working is a bronze pot from Herat which was made in the year 1163 (Fig. 9). The decoration covering the body of this round pot shows scenes from the life of dignitaries: the game of polo (chawgân), hunts, battles and banquets with musicians playing. Silver and copper incrustations make the design particularly effective. A wider range of motifs and techniques may be observed in the metal-working of Khurasan than in that of Transoxania. This can be seen, for example, in the frequent occurrence in Khurasan and the metal-working centres of Iran of three-dimensional figures of birds and animals decorating the various parts of vessels and the use of relief ornament and incrustation.

The influence of Iran is perceptible in Transoxanian metal-working during the post-Mongol period, when local craftsmen laboured increasingly to perfect their designs and refine forms. This can be seen in the techniques employed: incrustation with silver thread began to be practised at that time. Evidence of the artistic traditions expressed in this genre in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries is provided by the bronze ware discovered in an engraver’s workshop near the Registan in Samarkand, an accumulation of more than 60 artefacts for a variety of uses: pots, cups and jugs as well as lids and stands for vessels. New features have entered their design: miniaturized ornament, the use of incrustation and the appearance of thematic compositions in the decorative scheme.

The dominant feature in the design of Khurasan bronze ware of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries is a minute vegetal motif which twines around the bodies of bowls, candlesticks and pots in horizontal bands and provides a ground for inscriptions. Figurative motifs are no longer present in the decoration of this group of wares: vegetal-geometric patterns have taken over, interwoven with epigraphic inscriptions.