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Lot Essay
Inscribed:
Around the foot, al-maliki repeated
This ewer is a wonderful demonstration of the close commercial contact between East and West in the late Middle Ages. The shape of the vessel itself is Flemish, relating also to earlier Burgundian work in rock-crystal, which probably provided the stylistic source for bronze ewers of this type (A.E. Theuerkauff-Liederwald, Mittelalterliche Bronze und Messinggefässe: Eimer, Kannen, Lavabokessel, Berlin, 1988, p.305, fig.288). A Veneto-Saracenic ewer of very similar form was sold at Sotheby’s, London, 9 April 2008, lot 173.
The engraved decoration that covers the surface of the vessel however is Mamluk in style and typical of the work done for the western market in Cairo and Damascus around the year 1400 (see R. Ward, ‘Metallarbeiten der Mamluken-Zeit hergestellt für den Export nach Europa’, Europa und der Orient, 800-1900, Berlin, 1989, pp.202-9). The engraving would once have had a silver and black niello inlay which would have made the decoration stand out. Minute areas of the silver still remain beneath the later gilding on the surface.
Similar engraving decorates a Flemish ewer in Victoria & Albert Museum, of related form to ours but slightly later in date (M32-1946). The decoration on our ewer takes the form of floral decoration but the foot is also engraved with an Arabic inscription, the repeated phrase al-maliki (the owner) on every facet. Islamic vessels made for the local market would usually bear a long benedictory or dedicatory inscription, but for those made for export they were often replaced by a single Arabic term, as seen here. Another ewer of related form, but probably Mamluk in origin, is in a private collection. That bears similar silver-inlaid foliate decoration but also, around the neck, a coat of arms. The curtailed Arabic inscription on ours and coat of arms on the related example strongly suggest that these vessels were made for export from the Islamic world.
Made in Europe in the 14th century, sent to the Islamic world soon thereafter and then re-exported as a luxury object after its decoration, this ewer provides a perfect illustration of the close cross cultural ties of the period.
Around the foot, al-maliki repeated
This ewer is a wonderful demonstration of the close commercial contact between East and West in the late Middle Ages. The shape of the vessel itself is Flemish, relating also to earlier Burgundian work in rock-crystal, which probably provided the stylistic source for bronze ewers of this type (A.E. Theuerkauff-Liederwald, Mittelalterliche Bronze und Messinggefässe: Eimer, Kannen, Lavabokessel, Berlin, 1988, p.305, fig.288). A Veneto-Saracenic ewer of very similar form was sold at Sotheby’s, London, 9 April 2008, lot 173.
The engraved decoration that covers the surface of the vessel however is Mamluk in style and typical of the work done for the western market in Cairo and Damascus around the year 1400 (see R. Ward, ‘Metallarbeiten der Mamluken-Zeit hergestellt für den Export nach Europa’, Europa und der Orient, 800-1900, Berlin, 1989, pp.202-9). The engraving would once have had a silver and black niello inlay which would have made the decoration stand out. Minute areas of the silver still remain beneath the later gilding on the surface.
Similar engraving decorates a Flemish ewer in Victoria & Albert Museum, of related form to ours but slightly later in date (M32-1946). The decoration on our ewer takes the form of floral decoration but the foot is also engraved with an Arabic inscription, the repeated phrase al-maliki (the owner) on every facet. Islamic vessels made for the local market would usually bear a long benedictory or dedicatory inscription, but for those made for export they were often replaced by a single Arabic term, as seen here. Another ewer of related form, but probably Mamluk in origin, is in a private collection. That bears similar silver-inlaid foliate decoration but also, around the neck, a coat of arms. The curtailed Arabic inscription on ours and coat of arms on the related example strongly suggest that these vessels were made for export from the Islamic world.
Made in Europe in the 14th century, sent to the Islamic world soon thereafter and then re-exported as a luxury object after its decoration, this ewer provides a perfect illustration of the close cross cultural ties of the period.