SPAIN, 19TH CENTURY

Details

AN ALHAMBRA-STYLE VASE
SPAIN, 19TH CENTURY
The stucco body moulded and electroplated with a copper alloy, the central register with a band of elaborate florated kufic, with dense overall arabesque above and below, the gently widening neck with vertical panels with further decoration, rising to an everted mouth, with two broad handles decorated on both sides with cusped cartouches enclosing a repeated motif within strapwork border, on an ebony pedestal
30 ¾in. (78cm.) high

Engraved

In the blazons the Nasrid motto wa-la ghalib allah 'and there is no victor but God'
In the arch above these wa li-kull shidda '... and for every hardship...'
In the kufic upper band ghibda (?) 'felicity(?)'
In the kufic lower band 'afiha ('afiya?) 'health(?)'

Conditions of sale

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Sara Plumbly Director, Head of Department

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Lot Essay

As part of the Orientalist art movement which swept through Europe during the 19th century, a newfound appreciation of the arts of Muslim Spain drove a revival of Alhambra-style vases manufactured by celebrated workshops such as those of Plàcido Zuloaga and Tiffany & Co. While the majority of such revival Alhambra-style vases were made of pottery or bronze, the present vase is unusual for having been made with electroplated stucco.

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