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Lot Essay
Marble kilgas of this type are unique to Egypt. Elfriede Knauer has argued that the reason for this is due to the population's dependence on drinking water carried from the river in jars (Elfriede R. Knauer, 'Marble Jar-Stands from Egypt', Metropolitan Museum Journal, vol.14, New York, 1979, pp.67-71). They were originally conceived to support earthenware jars into which the water of the Nile was poured and through whose porous bodies the water was filtered. The water would collect at the bottom and trickle into the protruding basin, thus also cooling it. The idea of marrying Fatimid kilgas with marble jars, used for storing water, is a later one. They are however often preserved in this way - two kilgas presented with Fatimid marble water jars are in the Benaki Museum (Mikhail B. Piotrovsky and John Vrieze (general eds.), Heavenly Art: Earthly Beauty, exhibition catalogue, Amsterdam, 1999, nos. 99 and 100, pp.148-49). Others are preserved this way in the Islamic museum in Cairo (Esin Atil, Renaissance of Islam: Art of the Mamluks, exhibition catalogue, Washington D.C., 1981, p.219). Knauer mentions another example where an attractive kilga and marble jar are paired for decorative purposes in the mid-17th century house of Shaykh al-Sihaymi in Cairo (Knauer, op.cit., pp.72-74). Only one known kilga is dated. In the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, it bears an inscription that states that it was made in the nineties of the sixth century of the hijra (between 1193 and 1203 AD).
Our kilga is particularly rare for its figural decoration. Of the few that are known and published, most kilgas, are engraved with sparse geometric or occasional calligraphic design. A figural example is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Knauer, op.cit., p.68). Two other kilgas, which have small naked figures moulded in such a way that they appear to support the jar on top are in the Benaki museum and the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo (Piotrovsky and Vrieze, op.cit., no.99, pp.148-49 and Wilfried Seipel (ed.), Schätze der Kalifen. Islamische Kunst zur Fatimidenzeit, exhibition catalogue, 1998, cat.no.156, pp.191-93). Another figural example, though decorated with lions and other creatures as opposed to humans, is in the British Museum, gifted by Dr. Michael Rogers (inv.ME OA 1988.11-7.1). In the description of that kilga, the curator suggests that because of the figural decoration, the kilga was intended for use in a palace as opposed to a religious building (https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/k /kilga,_support_for_a_water_jar.aspx). A similar possibly royal, and certainly secular provenance seems likely here.
The decoration on the two sides of our kilga with the mounted figure holding a falcon and the hunter armed with a long spear relate closely to the decoration found on the 11th century wooden beams of the Western Fatimid palace in Cairo. These beams, which are now in the Islamic Art Museum in Cairo, are each decorated with three bands - the middle one of which is divided into cartouches with scenes of dancing, drinking and hunting. They were re-used during the Mamluk period in the Maristan of Sultan Qala'un (Tresors fatimides du Caire, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1998, nos.1-7, pp.88-91). Although none of the vignettes depicted in that publication directly mirror the scenes on ours, the idea of illustrating the princely cycle as well as the relatively simple depictions, understandable when the material they are worked into is considered, are very closely comparable. Mounted falconers, like ours, are also found on the famous ivory frame in the Berlin Museum für Islamische Kunst as well as on the roundels of the Fatimid wooden screen of the Coptic church of Sitt Barbara (Jonathan M. Bloom, Arts of the City Victorious. Islamic Art and Architecture in Fatimid North Africa and Egypt, London, 2007, no.77, p.108 and Edmond Pauty, Bois Sculptés d'Églises Coptes (Époque Fatimide), Cairo, 1930, pl.III).
The hares that embellish the spandrels beneath the figural vignettes on our kilga are again typically Fatimid. The animals are found decorating a wide variety of media, from tiraz fragments to ivory and wood (Anna Contadini, Fatimid Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1992, pl.50-51 and no.34, p.110). Often depicted addorsed with their heads turned towards each other or vice versa, with their bodies facing each other and their heads turned away, the hare, in Islamic literature is thought to symbolize good luck, fertility and prosperity.
Throughout the history of Islam the endowment of religious and other public buildings with water jars and drinking fountains for the pious to perform ritual ablutions was regarded as a noble and charitable tradition. Structures from simple drinking fountains to larger complexes were donated by pious and wealthy citizens (Atil, op.cit., p.219). The use of large marble jars persisted into the Mamluk period - one example, a jar in the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo from the fountain of Sultan Qaitbay (circa 1470-90 ), bears an inscription which describes the gifting of the jar in such a way (published Atil, op.cit., no.112, pp.219-20). A few other kilgas have recently appeared on the market. Two examples were recently sold at Sotheby's, London, 14 April 2010, lot 115 and 6 October 2010, lot 133; both were calligraphic, lacking the figural decoration that makes our example so rare.
Our kilga is particularly rare for its figural decoration. Of the few that are known and published, most kilgas, are engraved with sparse geometric or occasional calligraphic design. A figural example is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Knauer, op.cit., p.68). Two other kilgas, which have small naked figures moulded in such a way that they appear to support the jar on top are in the Benaki museum and the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo (Piotrovsky and Vrieze, op.cit., no.99, pp.148-49 and Wilfried Seipel (ed.), Schätze der Kalifen. Islamische Kunst zur Fatimidenzeit, exhibition catalogue, 1998, cat.no.156, pp.191-93). Another figural example, though decorated with lions and other creatures as opposed to humans, is in the British Museum, gifted by Dr. Michael Rogers (inv.ME OA 1988.11-7.1). In the description of that kilga, the curator suggests that because of the figural decoration, the kilga was intended for use in a palace as opposed to a religious building (https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/k /kilga,_support_for_a_water_jar.aspx). A similar possibly royal, and certainly secular provenance seems likely here.
The decoration on the two sides of our kilga with the mounted figure holding a falcon and the hunter armed with a long spear relate closely to the decoration found on the 11th century wooden beams of the Western Fatimid palace in Cairo. These beams, which are now in the Islamic Art Museum in Cairo, are each decorated with three bands - the middle one of which is divided into cartouches with scenes of dancing, drinking and hunting. They were re-used during the Mamluk period in the Maristan of Sultan Qala'un (Tresors fatimides du Caire, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1998, nos.1-7, pp.88-91). Although none of the vignettes depicted in that publication directly mirror the scenes on ours, the idea of illustrating the princely cycle as well as the relatively simple depictions, understandable when the material they are worked into is considered, are very closely comparable. Mounted falconers, like ours, are also found on the famous ivory frame in the Berlin Museum für Islamische Kunst as well as on the roundels of the Fatimid wooden screen of the Coptic church of Sitt Barbara (Jonathan M. Bloom, Arts of the City Victorious. Islamic Art and Architecture in Fatimid North Africa and Egypt, London, 2007, no.77, p.108 and Edmond Pauty, Bois Sculptés d'Églises Coptes (Époque Fatimide), Cairo, 1930, pl.III).
The hares that embellish the spandrels beneath the figural vignettes on our kilga are again typically Fatimid. The animals are found decorating a wide variety of media, from tiraz fragments to ivory and wood (Anna Contadini, Fatimid Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1992, pl.50-51 and no.34, p.110). Often depicted addorsed with their heads turned towards each other or vice versa, with their bodies facing each other and their heads turned away, the hare, in Islamic literature is thought to symbolize good luck, fertility and prosperity.
Throughout the history of Islam the endowment of religious and other public buildings with water jars and drinking fountains for the pious to perform ritual ablutions was regarded as a noble and charitable tradition. Structures from simple drinking fountains to larger complexes were donated by pious and wealthy citizens (Atil, op.cit., p.219). The use of large marble jars persisted into the Mamluk period - one example, a jar in the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo from the fountain of Sultan Qaitbay (circa 1470-90 ), bears an inscription which describes the gifting of the jar in such a way (published Atil, op.cit., no.112, pp.219-20). A few other kilgas have recently appeared on the market. Two examples were recently sold at Sotheby's, London, 14 April 2010, lot 115 and 6 October 2010, lot 133; both were calligraphic, lacking the figural decoration that makes our example so rare.