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Lot Essay
This is one of a group of candlesticks all of which share the same basic shape, that is a low slightly tapering base rising from a narrow, almost flat rim. The sides curve inwards and bend back over the lower part to form a sharp edge with the shoulder. The shaft which rises from the slightly raised shoulder is sometimes a little waisted and supports a candle socket which resembles the basic shape of the body. The uniformity of shape in this group contrasts with a great diversity of decorative themes. While some items are decorated with geometric designs, others are decorated with courtly scenes in friezes or cartouches, sometimes set against elaborate floral scrolls.
A.S. Melikian-Chirvani (Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World, 8th-18th Centuries, London, 1982, pp. 356-368) revised an earlier theory by D.S. Rice who believed that these candlesticks were of Azerbaidjani origin and dated from the Ilkhanid period (Rice, D.S.: "Seasons and Labors of the Month", Ars Orientalis, I, 1954, pp. 14-20). According to Melikian-Chirvani there is good reason to attribute this group rather to Anatolia. Most pieces recorded in the East are preserved in Anatolia, while other examples are known to have been removed from Anatolian religious buildings. One example in the Victoria and Albert Museum bears an Armenian inscription dated 1691AD dedicating it to a shrine at Sebastia (Sivas)( Melikian-Chirvani, op. cit., p. 367, no. 172).
Priscilla Soucek suggested that details in iconography and epigraphy of the candlesticks were very indicative of an Anatolian origin (P. Soucek, Islamic Art from the University of Michigan Collections, Ann Arbor, 1978, nos.69-70). There are iconographic parallels with western Islamic ivories in the depiction of enthronement scenes. Similarities exist between drinking vessels depicted on the candlesticks and surviving specimens of the vessels themselves from 13/14th century Syria. Epigraphic parallels with 13th century carpets and tilework from Konya, and influences of the arrangement of princely scenes in late 12th/early 13th century Jaziran manuscript painting, all serve to reinforce her argument. James Allan published a candlestick from the Nuhad es-Said Collection which further supports an Anatolian attribution on grounds of its decoration (J.W. Allan, Islamic Metalwork in the Nuhad es-Said Collection, London, 1982, pp. 66-68, no. 9). It comprises an elaborate geometric interlace containing tiny rosettes, which finds a very close resemblance in the tilework in the dome of the Karatay Medrese in Konya (dated 649-651/1251-1253).
Our candlestick can be compared very closely to one previously in the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Vulturella presso Tivoli, and now in the Museo di Palazzo Venezia (G. Curatola, et. al., Eredità dell'Islam, exhibition catalogue, Venice, 1993, p. 243, no. 130B). Both items share a basic arrangement of forms and motifs, such as the inscription friezes on the base and the body, the meander pattern bordering the main decorative friezes, and rope patterns on the footrim and the lower rim of the candle-socket. Another piece with this arrangement is in the Nuhad es-Said Collection (J.W. Allan, op. cit., p. 62, no. 8). Although the general layout of the Venice candlestick is closer, it is the Nuhad es-Said piece which provides the best comparison for the central frieze. It comprises three roundels containing a seated ruler flanked by attendants on either side, the roundels divided by pairs of mounted figures.
For further examples, amongst a number of others, see: R.Ward, Islamic Metalwork, London, 1993, p. 92, fig. 72; G. Fehérvári, Islamic Metalwork of the Eighth to the Fifteenth Century in the Keir Collection, London, 1976, pp. 111-112, nos. 134 and 135; and E. Atil, et. al., Islamic Metalwork in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985, pp. 148-153, no. 19.
A.S. Melikian-Chirvani (Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World, 8th-18th Centuries, London, 1982, pp. 356-368) revised an earlier theory by D.S. Rice who believed that these candlesticks were of Azerbaidjani origin and dated from the Ilkhanid period (Rice, D.S.: "Seasons and Labors of the Month", Ars Orientalis, I, 1954, pp. 14-20). According to Melikian-Chirvani there is good reason to attribute this group rather to Anatolia. Most pieces recorded in the East are preserved in Anatolia, while other examples are known to have been removed from Anatolian religious buildings. One example in the Victoria and Albert Museum bears an Armenian inscription dated 1691AD dedicating it to a shrine at Sebastia (Sivas)( Melikian-Chirvani, op. cit., p. 367, no. 172).
Priscilla Soucek suggested that details in iconography and epigraphy of the candlesticks were very indicative of an Anatolian origin (P. Soucek, Islamic Art from the University of Michigan Collections, Ann Arbor, 1978, nos.69-70). There are iconographic parallels with western Islamic ivories in the depiction of enthronement scenes. Similarities exist between drinking vessels depicted on the candlesticks and surviving specimens of the vessels themselves from 13/14th century Syria. Epigraphic parallels with 13th century carpets and tilework from Konya, and influences of the arrangement of princely scenes in late 12th/early 13th century Jaziran manuscript painting, all serve to reinforce her argument. James Allan published a candlestick from the Nuhad es-Said Collection which further supports an Anatolian attribution on grounds of its decoration (J.W. Allan, Islamic Metalwork in the Nuhad es-Said Collection, London, 1982, pp. 66-68, no. 9). It comprises an elaborate geometric interlace containing tiny rosettes, which finds a very close resemblance in the tilework in the dome of the Karatay Medrese in Konya (dated 649-651/1251-1253).
Our candlestick can be compared very closely to one previously in the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Vulturella presso Tivoli, and now in the Museo di Palazzo Venezia (G. Curatola, et. al., Eredità dell'Islam, exhibition catalogue, Venice, 1993, p. 243, no. 130B). Both items share a basic arrangement of forms and motifs, such as the inscription friezes on the base and the body, the meander pattern bordering the main decorative friezes, and rope patterns on the footrim and the lower rim of the candle-socket. Another piece with this arrangement is in the Nuhad es-Said Collection (J.W. Allan, op. cit., p. 62, no. 8). Although the general layout of the Venice candlestick is closer, it is the Nuhad es-Said piece which provides the best comparison for the central frieze. It comprises three roundels containing a seated ruler flanked by attendants on either side, the roundels divided by pairs of mounted figures.
For further examples, amongst a number of others, see: R.Ward, Islamic Metalwork, London, 1993, p. 92, fig. 72; G. Fehérvári, Islamic Metalwork of the Eighth to the Fifteenth Century in the Keir Collection, London, 1976, pp. 111-112, nos. 134 and 135; and E. Atil, et. al., Islamic Metalwork in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985, pp. 148-153, no. 19.