Unknown Brass Wheel

Vladimir Belyaev
June 30, 1998

Diameter: 55-56 mm
Weight: 40.2 g

Shown item have five seals, three of them written in Arabic and two in Manchu?. Total meaning of item is uncleared for me now, may be it's some part of utensils.
One of Arabic seals have date AH1325 (1908 AD).


Arabic
Arabic Manchu?

Message from Francois Thierry, 18-Sep-2000:
    That is an official Ottoman weight of the reign of Abdulhamid II (1293-1327H/1876-1909). The shape is characteristic and the seals are control and town seals. The bigger seal is clearly that of a municipality because the last line (up) one can read belediyesi ("municipality" in turkish) and the name of the town may be Manasa (I read mnisa ?). The reference book is Garo Kurman, Osmanlilarda olcu ve tartilar, Turk ve Islam Esreleri Muzesi, Istanbul 1991. Last year I bougth about six of similar weights on the Paris flea market....

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