The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, London will stage an exhibition of art from the Islamic world from 20 February to 18 May 2014. At the centre of the show is a mysterious and exquisitely intricate metalwork bag from the Gallery’s collection about which little is known or understood.

Bag, Mosul, northern Iraq, 1300-1330Brass, inlaid with gold and silverHeight: 15.2 cm; width: 22 cm; depth: 13.5 cm© The Courtauld Gallery, London

Acquired by Victorian collector, Thomas Gambier Parry in 1858, it is suggested that the bag was made in Northern Iraq around 1300 -1300 as a metalwork version of a luxury textile or leather object. The spectacular inlaid decoration along the lid depicts a convivial scene of the festivities that would have followed a hunt and was obviously designed by someone well acquainted with the customs and traditions of the Mongol Il-Khanid court.

Bag: detail of a roundel with a musician

Bag: detail of lid showing court scene with a couple and their retinue

Through the display of some forty related works on loan from international collections, the exhibition will explore the origins, function, imagery and cultural context of this masterpiece of craftsmanship.

Spherical incense burner, probably Mosul, 1319-1335Brass, raised, engraved and inlaid with gold, silver and black materialDiameter: 17 cmSoprintendenza Speciale Patrimonio Storico, Artistico ed Etnoantropologico e per il Polo Museale della città di Firenze - Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence

Juz’ (section) from a Qur’an written for the Il-Khanid sultan Öljeitü, Mosul, 1310Ink, colour and gold on paper (brown leather binding)

Enthronement scene (detail), from the Diez AlbumsIran, possibly Tabriz, early 14th centuryInk, colours and gold on paperHeight: 19.2 cm; width: 26.1 cmStaatsbibliothek zu Berlin – PK, Diez A fol. 71, S. 48

A lady walking with two pages, from the Diez AlbumsIran, possibly Tabriz, early 14th centuryInk on paperHeight: 9.5 cm; width: 14.4 cmStaatsbibliothek zu Berlin – PK, Diez A fol. 72, S. 11

Humay and Humayun in the garden, from the Khamsa of Kwaju KirmaniBaghdad, dated Jumada I 798 (March 1396)Height: 32 cm; width: 24 cm© The British Library Board, BL Add.18113, f.40v