MAMLUK OR OTTOMAN EGYPT, 15TH OR 16TH CENTURY

Fountains such as this were used in domestic interiors in Egypt and Syria from the Mamluk to the Ottoman period. It would have served both for decoration and function, filling the interior with the soft sound of trickling water whilst also cooling the air. They were often set in vast geometric mosaic marble surrounds, as illustrated by an example in the Aga Khan Museum (AKM960) and another in the Shangri La Museum, Hawaii. European artists also incorporated them into interior paintings as shown by John Friedrick Lewis, 'The Reception' ('A Lady Receiving Visitors' in the Yale Centre for British Art, B1981.25.417). Another, more complete but less detailed or ambitious fountain was sold in these Rooms, 26 April 1994, lot 334.