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Lot Essay
This intricate casket, decorated with an assortment of architectural elements familiar from the Ottoman baroque style, was most probably made for presentation to Sultan Mahmud I (r.1730-54), whose tughra it bears. It has been proposed that the casket was made to hold a copy of the Qur’an, but its proportions are not right for a book, so this suggestion seems inconceivable. The tradition of reliquaries formed as models of churches exists in the Orthodox Church. One dated to the 18th century and like ours set with rubies and emeralds is published in C. Oikonomaki and Papadopoulou, Religious Silver, Athens, 1980, p.7, no.8. Others can be seen being carried in a procession through the streets of Jerusalem in honour of the Catholicos of Etchmiadzin (John Carswell and C.J.F. Dowsett, Kütahya Tiles and Pottery from the Armenian Cathedral of St. James, Jerusalem, Vol. I, Oxford, 1972, pl.31b). It seems very possible that our box was an extension of this tradition, perhaps presented to the Sultan by an Orthodox dignitary in the city. A maquette made in 1907 of the Fountain of Ahmed III was known to have been presented to Sultan Abdülhamid II, demonstrating a continued taste for miniature versions of monuments as gifts fit for the Sultans (Topkapi à Versailles. Trésors de la Cour ottomane, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1999, p.312, no.273).
The fine details of this casket portray elements which are easily paralleled in late 18th and 19th century Turkish baroque buildings, such as the Nuruosmaniye Complex in Istanbul (completed in 1755). However the amalgam of architectural elements suggests a craftsman not directly familiar with Ottoman architecture. The lid bears a stylised resemblance to the Hagia Sophia, and it may therefore be made to represent that building and the environs of the Hippodrome.
A related box, simpler in design and with the tughra of Ahmed III (r.1703-31), was sold at Sotheby’s, 5 April 2006, lot 177. That example was set with a gold coin with the date AH 1115/1703 AD.
The fine details of this casket portray elements which are easily paralleled in late 18th and 19th century Turkish baroque buildings, such as the Nuruosmaniye Complex in Istanbul (completed in 1755). However the amalgam of architectural elements suggests a craftsman not directly familiar with Ottoman architecture. The lid bears a stylised resemblance to the Hagia Sophia, and it may therefore be made to represent that building and the environs of the Hippodrome.
A related box, simpler in design and with the tughra of Ahmed III (r.1703-31), was sold at Sotheby’s, 5 April 2006, lot 177. That example was set with a gold coin with the date AH 1115/1703 AD.