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Lot Essay
Veneto-Saracenic metalwork was originally thought to have been produced in Europe. However, scholarship has evolved to that this 15th century metalwork was produced in Syria for export to Venice and other European cities.
The purpose of our hemispherical bowl with watertight lid is unknown. Auld proposes that these were either designed to hold incense, as contemporary incense burners shared all of the same motifs, or alternatively, sweet-meats (Sylvia Auld, Veneto-Saracenic Metalwork, Edinburgh, 1989, p.187) The lotus blossoms in a band interspersed with cruciform rosettes are characteristic of this type of metalwork. A bowl with similar cruciform rosettes was sold in these Rooms, 26 Oct 2017, lot 65.
A typical feature is the fish-whorl motif. This can be seen in two places in our bowl, on the underside of the lid and the inside of the bowl. When one looks closely, it is apparent that the latter’s “engraved fish-heads conform to – and disguise – concentric circles, which are indicative of the spinning process” (Auld, op.cit.). An identical example of this fish-whorl motif can be found on a bowl formerly in the Aron Collection (James Allan, Metalwork of the Islamic World, the Aron Collection, London, 1986, p.96-97).
The purpose of our hemispherical bowl with watertight lid is unknown. Auld proposes that these were either designed to hold incense, as contemporary incense burners shared all of the same motifs, or alternatively, sweet-meats (Sylvia Auld, Veneto-Saracenic Metalwork, Edinburgh, 1989, p.187) The lotus blossoms in a band interspersed with cruciform rosettes are characteristic of this type of metalwork. A bowl with similar cruciform rosettes was sold in these Rooms, 26 Oct 2017, lot 65.
A typical feature is the fish-whorl motif. This can be seen in two places in our bowl, on the underside of the lid and the inside of the bowl. When one looks closely, it is apparent that the latter’s “engraved fish-heads conform to – and disguise – concentric circles, which are indicative of the spinning process” (Auld, op.cit.). An identical example of this fish-whorl motif can be found on a bowl formerly in the Aron Collection (James Allan, Metalwork of the Islamic World, the Aron Collection, London, 1986, p.96-97).