PROBABLY FRANCE, SECOND HALF 19TH CENTURY

Details

A MAMLUK-STYLE ENAMELLED AND GILDED BLUE GLASS MOSQUE LAMP
Probably France, second half 19th Century
Of typical form with rounded body and flaring trumpet mouth on short foot, three applied loop handles around the body, decorated throughout with enamels and gilding, the body with a band of gilt naskh benedictory inscription on a ground of polychrome scrolling vine, bands of gilt geometric interlace and green ground meandering leafy vine below, the upper shoulder with alternating green and blue triangular panels of scrolling interlace and floral motifs, the mouth with a similar band of naskh inscription interrupted by shield-shaped panels, each with a band of naskh inscription, between green leaf meander and golden interlace designs, (gilding slightly rubbed)
10 in. (25.5 cm.) high

Provenance

As lot 1.
Rothschild inv. no. P.48.

Literature

C. J. Lamm, Mittelalterliche Gläser und Steinschnittarbeiten aus dem Nahen Osten, Berlin, 1929-30, Vol. I, p. 433, no. 23, Vol. II pl. 190.7.
G. Wiet, Catalogue général du musée arabe du Caire, Lampes et bouteilles en verre émaillé, Cairo, 1929, p. 162, no. 40.

Exhibited

Paris, Musée des arts décoratifs, G. Migeon, Exposition des arts musulmans, 1903, illustrated in the Album, pl. 65 (left), 'Syria XIV-XV century'.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

Both main inscriptions around the body and mouth read:
'izz li-mawlana al-sultan al-malik al-'alim al-'ad- il al-malik al-nasir (glory to our lord, the sultan, the king, the wise, the just, al-Malik al-Nasir).
The inscriptions in the shield-motifs around the mouth contain repetitions of the word al-'alim (the wise).

Another blue glass lamp with notably spherical body, formerly in the Mannheim Collection, Paris, and now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is probably from the same atelier (G. Schmoranz, Old oriental gilt and enamelled glass vessels, English Version, Vienna and London, 1899, pl. XXVIII). The links in design of the present lamp with those in lots 11 and 14, together with the links to the Mannheim Collection of lot 12 and lot 14, indicate that all three were the product of the same manufactory in Paris. Please see also the note to lot 14.

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