BALKANS, 16TH CENUTRY

This bowl belongs to a distinct group of small silver vessels. A number of related examples are currently in the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest – some having been found there as part of a hoarde discovered near the border with Serbia where it may have been buried by the owner during the 1552 invasion (Süleyman The Magnificent and His Age, exhibition catalogue, Budapest, 1994, nos. 68-74). The bowls of this group typically have a central pin, and a cavetto with radiating floral designs, sometimes with ring pouncing in the background, as ours. An example with a rumi roundel at the centre, similar to that offered here is published in Géza Fehér, Craftsmanship in Turkish-Ruled Hungary, Hungary, 1975, no.16.