The collection represents the most complete groupings of practically all kind of bronze and brass items found in Khurasan and Mawarannahr/Transoxiana from the 9th to the beginning of 13th centuries. Honorary Senator Manfred Bumiller began collecting Islamic art in 1980.
Three bronze (or brass) cast vessels from the Bumiller Collection, which might be called vases judging by their shape, are also closely analogous to objects in the Budrach hoard. Unlike the latter, they are in good condition and make it possible to reconstruct the shape of the Saghaniyan pieces. They are distinguished by a relief decoration in the form of scallops, oval bosses, horizontal strips with plant-like scrolls, and ribs embellished with engraved patterns in the form of birds, meanders, medallions with “Solomon’s knot,” etc.
On one of the vases there are Kufic inscriptions in Arabic, running vertically. The Bumiller Collection includes several bronze or brass cast handles which are topped by the head of a feline predator. They are analogous to a handle found on the surface of the Budrach site. Their function is made clear by a hemispherical basin with two handles from the Bumiller Collection.
You can learn more about the topic in the book-album "Collections of the Federal Republic of Germany" (volume XI) in the series "Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections".
The main sponsor of the project is the oilfield services company Eriell-Group.