WITH MAKER'S MARK OF MUHAMMAD BIN ISMA'IL, OTTOMAN TURKEY, WITH TUGHRA OF SULTAN MAHMUD I (R. 1730-54)

The reverse of the inkwell's lid is finely engraved with the name of the Seven Sleepers: 'Aliha, Mekshalina, Mathlina, Merthuke, Kafkshattiush, Shadnush and Marnush. The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus refer to a group of young Christians who hid inside a cave to escape a persecution. Having fallen asleep inside the cave, they purportedly awoke more than a century later. The story, very popular in the Islamic world, is reported in the Qur'an (Qur'an XVIII, sura al-kahf). These names sometimes appear on the decoration of Ottoman yataghans, such as lot 91 in this sale.

The maker of this pen case, Isma'il bin Muhammad (Ismail bin Mehmed) is recorded as a maker during Sultan Mahmud I's reign. See Garo Kurkman, Ottoman Silver Marks, Istanbul, 1996, p.106.