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2015
March 2015 marks the third year of our participation at TEFAF, Maastricht. This is an important turning point for our company as we become established within the TEFAF community. This catalogue represents our endeavour for acquiring exceptional, interesting and diverse works of art. Yet again, exploring the exciting period of trade and expansion from India to South America. We are also showing a selection of Indian miniatures emanating from the Mughal courts to the Punjab hills. I would like to thank the following for their invaluable contribution and thorough research; Hugo Miguel Crespo, Centre for History, University of Lisbon, for research and cataloguing the important gold pendant, Namban coffer and South American coverlet, Dr Robert Del Bonta for research and cataloguing of all the Indian miniatures, Michael Spink for his help with dating of the gold mace and emerald clad katar. Many thanks also to Will Kwiatkowski and Marjo Alafouzo. Special thanks to Angelo Plantamura for his artistic photographs and Franรงoise Barrier for her wonderful catalogue design. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to Trina Lee Johnson for editing the whole catalogue as well as carrying out original research and cataloguing many of the objects while juggling the day to day running of the gallery. Amir Mohtashemi
2015
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Iznik dish
Turkey, Second half of the 16thcentury 29cm diameter
The dish is decorated with a central floral rosette surrounded by four lobed medallions with blue and white flowers inside a bole red ground. Between the lobed medallions are pairs of small blue flowers connected by bole red clips. The rim is decorated with groups of spirals in a wave-motif border. The back of the dish decorated with alternating blue floral sprigs and single cintemani dots. Iznik dishes with similar design are in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Accession Number 02.5.47, Bilgi, Dance of Fire: Iznik Tiles and Ceramics in the Sadberk Hanim Museum, Sadberk Hanim Museum, Istanbul, 2009, p. 287, pl. 171, and Hitzel and Jacotin, Iznik : l’aventure d’une collection : les céramiques ottomanes du Musée national de la Renaissance, Château d’Ecouen, Réunion des Musées nationaux, Paris, 2005, p. 271, pl. 410.
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Iznik dish Turkey, Second half of the 16thcentury 28cm diameter
Provenance: Private European Collection
This dish has an everted rim painted with a symmetrical composition of a central bole red, cobalt blue and green palmette with flowering bole red and blue tulips and carnations to each side all flowering from the same sprig of leaves. The outer rim is decorated with a border of white and red half-rosettes on a blue ground. The back of the dish with alternating blue and green flowers. Iznik dishes with a smaller, borderless rim are less common than those with a wider and more heavily decorated rim. Other examples with a similar thin border of half-rosettes are in The David Collection, Copenhagen, Accession Number Isl 183 and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Accession Number 02.5.53.
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Iznik pottery tile panel Turkey, circa 1585 24.5cm wide, 24.5cm high;
the panel altogether 73.5cm high
A set of three pottery tiles each of square form and painted with bole red, green and cobalt blue, with black outlining. The tiles are decorated with a central floral rosette with six other floral branches radiating inside a lobed medallion on a white ground, with blue, red and white arabesque panels on a green spandrel ground. Similar tiles can be found on the mihrab in the Mesih Mehmed Pascha Mosque in Istanbul (built in 1585 under Sultan Murad III). See nearly identical tiles in Bilgi, Dance of Fire: Iznik Tiles and Ceramics in the Sadberk Hanim Museum, Sadberk Hanim Museum, Istanbul, 2009, p. 304, pl. 180.
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Canton enamel ewer and basin
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made for the Indian market China, 18thcentury 39cm high; the ewer 28.5 high; the basin 32cm diameter
Provenance: Private European Collection
A Chinese enamel ewer and basin painted in famille rose. The melon-shaped globular ewer is decorated with lotus flowers and foliage delicately climbing up each panelled section of the ewer. The handle and spout have detailed black, pink and blue scrollwork. The neck of the ewer is painted with large ruyi panels with black floral scrolls on a pink ground with gilding on top. The domed cover has metal mounts and finial. The ewer sits on the hand basin which has a perforated lid inside. The basin is of squat globular form with a flared scalloped rim including flowers, foliage and ruyi panels on a purple ground. The long straight spout and lobed panels on this ewer are distinctive of 18thcentury metalwork seen on North Indian ewers (see Zebrowski, Gold, Silver & Bronze from Mughal India, Alexandria Press, 1997, pl. 234 and 235). An th 18 century silver-gilt enamel Indian wash basin of similar form, decorated with animals and foliage is in The David Collection, Copenhagen, Accession Number 73/1980. Ewers and basins of this type would have been used historically for ritual hand washing practised by the Muslim court.
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A pair of porcelain blue ewers made for the Islamic market China, 18thcentury Both 29cm high
A rare pair of porcelain dark blue ewers of compacted pear-shaped form and flared feet. The mouths are crescent-moon shaped; the spouts are curved and the ewers have traces of floral gilt decoration. Two similar ewers are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Accession Numbers 775-1888 and 1674-1876, and are published by Kerr and Mengoni, Chinese Export Ceramics, V&A Publishing, London, 2011, p. 111, pl. 158. According to Kerr, the shape of the ewers stems from Middle Eastern metalwork in combination with their crescent-shaped mouths and their dark blue glazes (Kerr, p. 110). A late 17thcentury bluish-white ewer made in Iran with a curved spout and crescent-moon mouth is in the British Museum, London, Accession Number OA739, and shows the same Middle Eastern form as these Chinese export ewers.
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Rare Chinese bronze tripod incense burner made for the Islamic market
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China, 18thcentury Zhengde mark 18.7cm high
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This tripod incense burner has a cylindrical patinated bronze body cast with four cartouches enclosing Arabic inscriptions on a wave patterned ground. The incense burner stands on three cabriole legs. The base of the object has a four-character Zhengde seal mark and an old label with typed words ‘China #32, 1968 London’. The Arabic inscription is undeciphered, but is probably a Prophetic hadith.
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Namban coffer-shaped chest Japan, (Momoyama period) Late 16th century
Black lacquered wood (urushi), probably
Hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa), decorated
with gold lacquer (maki-e) and inlaid with motherof-pearl (raden); gilded copper fittings. 39cm high, 66.5cm wide, 30.5cm deep
A rare, large Namban coffer-shaped chest known as dogubako with a hinged domed lid. The decoration is lacquered wood (urushi) divided into rectangular panels framed by a narrow band of mother-of-pearl inlay (raden) and a large border of square latticework (ishitatami) - except for the back in which the large border has an “endless pearl” pattern (shipp tsunagi). This is divided in two small panels separated by a broad band of a complex version of “endless pearl” pattern. The resulting smaller panels, except for the back and sides, feature a hexagon-based “endless pearl” pattern as background, forming hexagonal stars and central, medallion-like bracket-lobed cartouches. The left-side cartouche on the front is decorated in gold lacquer (maki-e) with two hares amidst a dense design of overlapping Japanese camellia and Chinese bell-flower branches, with some of the leaves and flowers inlaid in mother-of-pearl and highlighted in gold. Similarly decorated, the right-side cartouche features two long-tailed birds and flowering trees. The double-gourd cartouches on the lid feature deer and birds with flowering trees. The sides feature black lacquer ground panels decorated in gold with flowering branches, alternating Chinese bell-flower and Mandarin orange trees with some of the leaves and flowers inlaid in mother-of-pearl and highlighted in gold. Similarly, the back has black lacquer ground panels decorated in gold with flowering branches. The gilded copper ornamental metal fittings (kazarikanagu) comprise a large lock-plate on the front (aimeita), two fiddlehead fern-shaped (warabi-te) loose-ring side handles, hinges at the back (ch tsugai), and corner braces (fuchi-kanagu). The escutcheon, surmounted by a European-style crown, feature hairline engraved flowering branches of Chinese bell-flower on a punched “fish roe” (nanako) background pattern called nanakoji. The interior and underside are plain black lacquer.
The refined gold decoration applied to this rare chest called maki-e, literally “sprinkled picture”, was common in the Momoyama Period (1568-1600) and early Edo Japan. During this period, a special lacquerware made for export, which mixed motherof-pearl inlay with hiramaki-e, was called nanban makie or nanban shitsugei. Namban, also spelled Nanban, or Nanban-jin (literally, “Southern Barbarian”) is a Japanese term derived from Chinese that refers to the Portuguese and Spanish merchants, missionaries and sailors who arrived in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries. Namban has also become synonymous with the types of lacquerware and other products that were commissioned in Japan for the home market or for export and reflected western taste and were modelled after European prototypes. Namban-style products, which were strictly made for export only, commonly combine Japanese techniques, materials and motifs with European styles and shapes. This large Namban chest was used for storage and made to European specifications following the Portuguese demand for mother-of-pearl objects such as those made in Gujarat. For a similar shaped casket, slightly-smaller, with probably quite an uncommon, hexagon-based “endless pearl” pattern, see Vinhais, Luísa; Welsh, Jorge (eds.), After the Barbarians: An Exceptional Group of Namban Works of Art, London - Lisbon, Jorge Welsh, Porcelana Oriental e Obras de Arte, 2003, p. 90-91, cat. 14. For examples with similar shape, size and decoration, see Vinhais, Luísa; Welsh, Jorge (eds.), Depois dos Bárbaros II: Arte Namban para os mercados Japonês, Português e Holandês, London, Jorge Welsh Books - Publishers and Booksellers, 2008, p. 306-309, cat. 41, p. 310-315, cat. 42 and p. 316-319, cat. 43.
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Kubachi dish Probably Tabriz, Iran, circa 1600 28cm diameter
A young maiden with almond-shaped eyes, a beauty mark on her left cheek, wearing a flower print dress and a loose headdress with black curls hanging down each side of her face; she is represented in a landscape of floral motifs. The rim of the dish is decorated with a fish-scale motif border. This polychrome dish is painted with cobalt blue, green, red and ochre and belongs to the ceramic group of Kubachi wares. The representation of bust portraiture (i.e. top-half of the figure) depicted amongst floral sprays and vegetation was popularised during the Safavid period, probably as a result of the cosmopolitan exchanges with the Ottomans. Other examples of similar Kubachi dishes are in The Louvre, Paris, Accession Number Ucad 27780 and The Harvard University Art Museum, Accession Number 1934.47.
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Mughal spinach jade hilt with silver inlay Deccan, 18thcentury 13cm long
A rare spinach jade pistol-grip hilt with a rounded pommel and scroll-shaped quillons. The hilt is decorated throughout with silver inlaid Ottoman-style carnations and leaves. Jade daggers with this type of silver inlay technique were produced in Deccan and date to the early 18thcentury. Several examples are known, one of which, attributed to the mid to late 17thcentury, was exhibited in Copenhagen as part of the Otto Peterson Collection, see Ricketts, Splendour of Oriental Arms, Acte - Expo, Paris, 4th May - 31st July 1988, p. 112, pl. 189. Another example with silver carnations inlaid on a pale green jade hilt is in The British Museum, London, Accession Number 1878,1230.883. A Mughal spinach jade globular jar decorated with silver inlay depicting similar floral decoration is in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, Accession Number 2144, see Teng Shu-p’ing, Exquisite Beauty: Islamic Jades, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2012, p. 101, pl. 110.
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Jade horse head dagger handle India, 17thcentury 13cm high
Provenance: Private European Collection
The dagger handle is made of light green and mutton fat jade masterfully carved so that the horse’s mane stands out from the darker grey part of the stone. The base of the hilt is carved with a floral rosette. At a later date, the base of the hilt was cut, probably to fit a scabbard. For a similar example of a Mughal grey dagger hilt of a horse’s head with inlaid stones see Teng Shu-p’ing, Exquisite Beauty: Islamic Jades, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2012, p. 120, pl. 145. Other similar pieces are in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Accession Number 15.150.1 and Hales, Islamic and Oriental Arms and Armour: A Lifetime’s Passion, Robert Hales, England, 2013, fig. 83 on p. 36.
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The Death of Jatayu
from the Aranya Kanda,
Book Three of the Ramayana
One of three folios from the Ramayana series, Punjab Hills, Himachal Pradesh, Kangra, ca. 1830-40 Ink, opaque watercolour, and gold on paper 34cm high, 46.5cm wide Provenance: Private UK Collection
In a complex composition of continuous narrative, a series of activities are depicted in this folio. In search of Sita who has been abducted by Ravana, Rama and his brother Lakshman come upon the dying Jatayu, an eagle who was a friend of Rama’s father. At first, Rama thinks Jatayu is Ravana, but then sees that Jatayu is a bird with severed wings. Spewing blood, Jatayu relates his encounter with the demon and his attempt to free Sita. Jatayu dies and Rama and Lakshman cremate the bird with a ritual, essentially treating Jatayu as a human. Rama performs Vedic rituals and goes to the River Godavari. Both brothers take funeral baths in the river and make offerings to Jatayu. Since Rama is god he can elevate Jatayu’s status to that of a human, out of appreciation for his efforts. The two brothers continue their search for Sita.
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Dundubhi Spies on Vali and Sugriva from the Kishkindha kanda,
Book Four of the Ramayana
One of three folios from the Ramayana series, Punjab Hills, Himachal Pradesh, Kangra, ca. 1830-40 Ink, opaque watercolour, and gold on paper 34cm high, 46.5cm wide Provenance: Private UK Collection
On the right of this miniature, Rama and Lakshman are conferring with Sugriva, the white monkey, and Hanuman, the brown monkey behind him, accompanied by a few other monkeys. Jambavan, the bear depicted in black is sitting amidst the monkeys. Sugriva is relating his quarrel with his brother Vali. Dundubhi, the demon, hiding behind the rocks, has come to spy on Vali, hoping to fight him. Vali sits on his throne ready to go to battle with the buffalo-headed demon. Sugriva implores Vali not to fight, while Hanuman stands stiffly facing Vali, the king of the monkeys.
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The Monkeys Vali
and Sugriva Fight from the Kishkindha kanda,
Book Four of the Ramayana
One of three folios from the Ramayana series, Punjab Hills, Himachal Pradesh, Kangra, ca. 1830-40 Ink, opaque watercolour, and gold on paper 46cm wide, 38cm high Provenance: Private UK Collection Similar to the miniature of Rama’s encounter with Jatayu, this composition presents a series of scenes which narrate the events leading up to the fight between Vali and Sugriva. The miniature depicts episodes from a number of chapters in the form of a long narrative. Clockwise from top left, a scene from Chapter 13, Rama tells Sugriva to wear a garland so he can tell the two monkeys apart. In the next scene, Rama, Lakshman and Sugriva visit and worship at a hermitage of seven sages. On the extreme right, before Vali goes out to meet his brother, his wife Tara tries to dissuade him. Her emphatic gesture is convincing. The fight itself takes place in Chapter 16. In the last scene, Sugriva and Vali are fighting and Rama aims his arrow at Vali. The story continues with Vali as he lay dying questioning the morality of Rama’s act. He is told that, after all, he is a monkey and Rama is a hunter. It is the opposite of what takes place in the Jatayu scene, where Rama has elevated the bird to the status of a human. These finely detailed miniatures display the vivid colours found in later Kangra painting. The complex compositions contain much continuous narrative with the principal figures depicted several times in each miniature. The setting of this group of miniatures, with their rolling hills, lush vegetation, trees, flowering creepers and abstract rock forms make this entire series very atmospheric.
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A royal gold ceremonial sceptre or mace
North India, First half of the 19thcentury 62cm long
A North Indian, possibly from Rajasthan, gold sceptre or mace with carved floral motifs made in three sections with a rosewood core. The pommel is inlaid with a large emerald surrounded by rubies and diamonds forming a floral design. Surrounding the flower is a register of carved birds with inlaid ruby eyes, interrupted by floral sprays. The lip of the pommel is decorated with square-cut diamonds. These kinds of ceremonial devices were carried by the entourage of the ruler; several examples can be seen in Indian miniatures from Rajasthan which clearly depict identical gold implements. The two Indian miniatures above, circa mid19thcentury, depict processional figures holding similar gold maces with swirled design. The miniature on the right illustrates an equestrian portrait of Maharana Sarup Singh of Mewar (r. 1842-61) and shows two attendants holding long gold maces. The maces have the same twirled design in three sections as is represented on this ceremonial sceptre or mace. There was an increase of British influence from the mid-19thcentury onwards, which resulted in the demise of the darbar (court) and thus it is conceivable that this mace was made in the first half of the 19thcentury.
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Pendant
Ceylon (Sri Lanka), 16th century Gold, rubies, turquoise, carved ivory and rock crystal. 6cm high, 3.5cm wide, 2cm deep Provenance: Private UK Collection
This remarkable, rare pendant belongs to a select, small group of rock crystal devotional items featuring religious scenes and figures minutely carved in ivory. The piece is set with cabochon-cut rubies and one turquoise in the Indian gem setting technique known as kundan (literally “pure gold”) and consists of an architectural style depressed arch gold frame with a removable socle (pedestal) from which the pierced, carved ivory plaque can slide into. The thick frame features a pointed arch aedicule on each side. The depressed arch frame is somewhat reminiscent of South Indian architectural features. The sides of the frame are protected by carefully placed rock crystal plaques. The gems are set in juxtaposed alveoli in the case of the arches, and on lozenge and mandorlashaped bezels on the top next to the suspension gold loop. The underside, in sheet gold, is masterly decorated with applied, closed work filigree and features a quatrefoil composed of five-lozenge shaped bezels set with cabochon-cut rubies and one turquoise in kundan-style. This applied filigree, seen in wellknown pieces such as the ivory carved Robinson casket
in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Accession Number IS.41-1980, decorating the latch of the lock-plate, is typical of Ceylonese jewellery of this period and characteristic of goldsmiths of Tamil origin (badallu) working in the royal workshops of Kotte, Ceylon. This precious religious piece of jewellery was intended as an object for the meditation on the Passion of Christ, as a spiritual gateway to Salvation by focusing on the dramatic, painful events of the Life of Jesus, the Saviour of Humanity. The Passion was central to the Christian teachings that Franciscan missionaries strove to instil into the minds and hearts of the newly converted people in Ceylon. It was particularly useful for the celebrations during the Holy Week. Each side of this retable-like jewel presented the devout newly converted with a significant moment in the Passion narrative: the first depicted, in one of the smaller aedicules, is the Agony in the Garden, or Jesus praying to God, the Father, which in Roman Catholic tradition is the first Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary and the First Station of the Scriptural Way of The Cross; the second, depicted on one of the larger sides, is the Flagellation of Christ (also known as Christ at the Column or the Scourging at the Pillar) and corresponds to the Sixth Station – interestingly, this depiction was amongst the most favoured scenes in Franciscan theology; the third, in the second aedicule, depicts the Carrying of the Cross, the Seventh Station; and finally the fourth depicts the Descent from the Cross, or Deposition of Christ.
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The most important documentary source on the private consumption of asiatica in 16th century Lisbon, namely on this type of jewellery pieces from Ceylon, is the inventory written in 1570, of the estate left by Simão de Melo Magalhães, Captain of Malacca between 1545 and 1548. A variety of bracelets were listed in the Melo inventory, of which two “of gold and stones made in Ceylon”; another two of interlocking links were “decorated with gold and stones from Ceylon”. Also listed in Melo’s estate are “two gold needle cases and two thimbles studded with rubies from Ceylon”. For earrings, the inventory cites: “four small gold gourds made in Ceylon” set with rubies; two “pears made in Ceylon encrusted with rubies”; two “earrings in the form of cartouches set with rubies and made in Ceylon”; and a “gold pendant for earrings garnished with rubies from Ceylon”. Melo also left his wife Ceylonese buttons: sixty-three “Ceylonese buttons, some broken, some large and small”; seven large “fine” Ceylonese ruby buttons; and twenty-two “fine” Ceylonese ruby buttons. The earrings are followed by strands of beads: “one strand [or rosary] of crystal beads with five gold counters set with rubies from Ceylon and a cross made in the same manner”; another strand of crystal beads with five gold counters; another smaller strand of rock crystal beads with five small gold spacers. These are five decade rosaries that contain five sets of ten beads called Ave Maria or “Hail Mary” beads with additional large beads before each decade, called Pater Noster or “Our Lord” beads, normally six. Rosaries were essential components of Portuguese attire in Asia as can be seen in the engravings published by Jan Huygen van Linschoten (1595-1596) in his famous Itinerario. Furthermore, such objects appealed to New Converts in Portuguese India (and Ceylon), who already used similar objects which had a long tradition in Asian religions. Following the rosaries, Melo’s inventory records jewelled objects of great value and refinement. Luxury, jewelled goods modelled after European examples, identical to surviving objects in the Kunstkammer in Vienna, consisted of “three crystal spoons
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mounted with gold and rubies from Ceylon”, and “three crystal forks with gold and rubies from Ceylon”. These pieces were similar in manufacture to the well-known rock crystal spoon and fork belonging once to Catarina of Austria and later her nephew Emperor Rudolph II. Carved from highly transparent material, they feature gold mountings decorated with applied filigree; both are studded with small rubies set in lozenge bezels filled with kundan similar to our rock crystal pendant. Similar extant pieces include a well-known ovalshaped pendant medallion in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Accession Number 868 Joa, which depicts Our Lady of the Rosary holding the Christ Child, on one side; and the Calvary on the other. Enclosed by a smaller oval rock crystal plaque which encapsulates a miniature scene in ivory, the structure is held together with hinged gold mounts, forming two frames decorated with applied filigree (plain square-section, flattened wire) set with small cabochon-cut rubies and sapphires in the kundan setting technique, and four quatrefoils set with rubies and sapphires decorating the middle sections, closed at the edges with twisted gold wire. Another piece, in the form of a cylinder (with a rock crystal tube protecting the ivory carving) has a minute depiction in carved, painted ivory of Christ at the Column, and is set in gold with cabochon-cut rubies in a Portuguese private collection. A similar pendant, with the same cylinder shape, features a minute depiction of the Virgin with the Child in painted, carved ivory and is in the British Museum, London, Accession Number 1872,0604.900; and it is also set with cabochoncut rubies. Of all the known pieces, our pendant, considering its size, condition and overall quality, is the most remarkable. Hugo Miguel Crespo; Luísa Penalva, “Jóias Goesas: A Construção de uma Identidade Indo-Portuguesa, Goan Jewels: The Construction of an Indo-Portuguese Identity”, in Penalva; Anísio Franco (eds.), Esplendores do Oriente, Joias de Ouro da Antiga Goa: Splendours of the Orient, Gold Jewels from Old Goa (exh. cat.), Lisbon, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda, 2014, p. 57-90; Crespo, Jóias da Carreira da Índia (exh. cat.), Lisbon, Museu do Oriente, 2014.
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Lady at a Jharoka Window Jaipur, circa 1780 Ink, opaque watercolour, and gold on paper 35.5cm high, 22 wide
The young girl sits against a pink bolster with one hand raised to her mouth in contemplation, posed as if at a jharoka window with a brocaded fabric draping the railing. Her other hand gently touches the fabric. The subtle appealing colouring with the turquoise blue halo contrasts with the green background and pink of the pillow. There are delicate
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flowers depicted behind her, and her diaphanous scarf covers a revealing coli or bodice. The elaborate jewellery indicates her status as either a courtesan or princess. The painting is mounted on a muraqqa‘ or album page with a subtle marbled border which complements the tonalities of the miniature.
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A Mughal Beauty Mughal, Delhi, circa 1720-1740 Ink, opaque watercolour, and gold on paper 26.5cm high, 19.5cm wide
The girl sits on a terrace against a bolster that is merely suggested by a few darker green lines behind her. A few phantom trees are also seen beyond the wall of the terrace. It is an intimate portrait of the girl crouching with a raised knee. She lifts both hands and contemplates a small jewel held between the thumb and forefinger of her right hand. The vivid colours and detailing of the miniature are finely
painted with minute gold patterns on her garment and diaphanous scarf. A short scribbled inscription in devanagari on the back of this miniature names the girl as Vagama, adding the word bethi, or daughter. It also bears the number 44 suggesting it may be from a series of portraits.
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A Prince Celebrating Shab-I Barat Mughal, Uttar Pradesh, Faizabad or Lucknow, circa 1750-75 Style of Nidha Mal Ink, opaque watercolour, and gold on paper 25.5cm high, 36cm wide
A prince sits regally in a European fashion and smokes a huqqa on a terrace at night. A group of ladies playing with fireworks face him, while a female attendant stands behind the nobleman holding a flask and wine cup with a saucer. The terrace setting is balanced by two
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marble pavilions to either side. The view in the background is on the whole symmetrical except at the far distance where the elaborate fireworks create formal tree-like shapes of gold. This painting and “A Couple Enjoying a Terrace Ambience at Night” scene have identical gold borders and appear to have come from the same muraqqa‘ or album and have similar inscriptions in devanagari script. A related painting of Zib al-Nisa Begum watching fireworks in the collection of the Islamic Art Museum in Berlin is attributed by Malini Roy to Lucknow or Faizabad, circa 1754-75, see Markel, India’s Fabled City: The Art of Courtly Lucknow, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2010, fig. 22, p. 172. Fig. 21 by Nidha Mal in the same page displays a similar setting, a terrace with symmetrical pavilions to each side.
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Raja Abhi Chand of Katoch Punjab Hills, Himachal Pradesh, Kangra, Late 18th century Ink, opaque watercolour, and gold on paper 18.5cm high, 14cm wide Provenance: Private Australian Collection
The miniature is inscribed on the back as Sri Raja Abhechand (Abhi Chand) of Katoca (Katoch). This formal portrait depicts Raja Abhi Chand dressed in white sitting on a white marble terrace. In the pale-green background, there are clouds and a blue sky. The sensitive detailing of his face gives an authentic air – interestingly, he wears no jewellery. The only traces of colour are the gold pattern in his turban and the simple gold katar tucked into his sash.
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Fatimid rock crystal
mounted as a reliquary Egypt, 10thcentury with later 14th/15thcentury European mounts
9.5cm high; the base 7cm diameter This globular-shaped Fatimid rock crystal bottle, mounted later as a reliquary, has gilt-copper mounts. The body is carved with a lobed-flower petal design. The vessel is sealed with a crenellated lid, hinged together on both sides of the reliquary and attached to the base. Miniature pearls strung on wire are wrapped around the body of the giltcopper cross. Below the cross, a spherical finial sits on top of the domed lid. Egyptian rock crystal carvings from the Fatimid dynasty (909-1171) were highly valued and prized courtly objects made for the ruling families. This rock crystal vessel may have originally been used as a perfume bottle. Later on, the vessel was probably cut down and mounted for use as a devotional Christian reliquary in Europe. A Fatimid rock crystal bowl with similar lobed carving is published in Olivetti, The Treasury of San Marco Venice, The British Museum, Milan, 1984, p. 193, fig. 24c. Other examples of carved Fatimid rock crystal objects can be found in the Freer Sackler Museum,Washington D.C., Accession Number F1949.14, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Accession Number 17.190.522a and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Accession Numbers M. 110-1966 and M. 78:1, 2-1910. Two Fatimid rock crystal bottles with later added European mounts are published in Gabrieli and Scerrato, Gli Arabi in Italia: Cultura, contatti e tradizioni, Garzanti Scheiwiller, Italy, 1979, pl. 538 and 540.
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m o h t a s h e m i Coverlet
Probably the Viceroyalty of Peru, Alto Peru (present-day Bolivia), 18th century
Appliqué of various silk fabrics (velvet, satin, lampas, damask, etc.), silk and metal-wrapped thread embroidery, and spangles. 273cm high, 170cm wide Provenance: Private European Collection
This unique large coverlet, usually made for a bed, consists of a narrow brown field featuring a large doubleheaded crowned eagle in the middle with an orb in one talon and a flaming sword in the other, flanked by two pairs of angels and surrounded by an array of male and female figures dressed in 18th century courtly fashion, running animals, birds and flowers. This central field is framed by a broad border with the same brown ground with figures, animals, flower pots, birds and flowers. The outer border with a contrasting green ground is decorated with a continuous vine-scroll set with different types of flowers such as carnations, tulips and roses. Between the ground and borders there are narrow bands with geometric patterns. The design of this rare coverlet was created by attaching small pieces of fine silk fabrics cut in the shape of the motifs in a technique called appliqué, or appliqué patchwork. The borders of these pieces were then sewn or embroidered with silk and metal-wrapped onto the main ground fabric in a variety of stitches predominantly chain stitched and with metal spangles. The overall design with the double-headed crowned eagle derives from similar embroidered coverlets which are known as colchas that were produced in Asia for the Portuguese and Spanish markets from the 16th century onwards. Such luxury items were manufactured in India, in the area of Satgaon in Bengal, where yellow tussah silk embroidery were commissioned for rich patrons, featuring highly complex designs. Dark ground silks with finely embroidered figures, animal and plant motifs were made in South China. One 17th century Chinese example, made for the European market, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Accession Number 1975.208d. Furthermore, the double-headed crowned eagle, commonly associated with the presence of the Augustinians in Asia, is featured in several surviving pieces of silk lampas (weaved pattern) of Chinese manufacture (see for example, a late 16th century fragment in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accession Number 12.55.4). These designs were copied in Southern
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Europe (Iberian Peninsula and Italy) due to the high prices of such export luxury textiles. The connection between the Chinese models and their local interpretation in South America via the Manila Galleon trade route provides the defining elements to posit a South American origin for the present coverlet. Chinese silks were in great demand by the colonial society in the Viceroyalty of Peru, and were exchanged for American silver (from the Peruvian mines of Potosí, in today’s Bolivia). High-quality textile production was already well-established in the Andes before the Spanish Conquest and with the introduction of such fine Chinese embroidered silks; their complex, vivid designs were soon copied in tapestries by Andean master weavers. One such accomplished Peruvian tapestry, dated from the late 17thcentury to the early 18th century, is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Accession Number 11.1264. Curiously, it features a white dog with a collar which can also be observed in our coverlet, and matches a similar motif on a Peruvian tapestry in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Accession Number 933-1901. This fragment in London, probably used as a bed curtain, also features colourful birds and animals similar to our example. Furthermore, the free-floating floral and faunal imagery depicted here, a dizzying array of creatures and plants are reminiscent of the culture particular to the Altiplano, which shows a chaotic proliferation of designs, speaking of the cross-cultural influences present in colonial Andean weaving. Our coverlet represents a remarkable artistic expression of this same phenomenon in embroidery, an art in which Andean craftsmen excelled, making use of precious silk fragments - probably recovered from old garments - painstakingly embroidered with gold thread and appliqué. Maria João Pacheco Ferreira, “Chinese Textiles for Portuguese Tastes”, Amelia Peck (ed.), Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade, 1500-1800 (exh. cat.), New York - London, The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Thames and Hudson, 2013, p. 46-55. Elena Phips, “Cumbi to Tapestry: Collection,Innovation, and Transformation of the Colonial Andean Tapestry Tradition”, in Phips; Johanna Hecht; Cristina Esteras Martín (eds.), The Colonial Andes: Tapestries and Silverwork, 1530-1830 (exh. cat.), New York - New Haven - London, The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Yale University Press, 2004, p. 73-99. Phips, Elena, “The Iberian Globe: Textile Traditions and Trade in Latin America”, in Peck (ed.), Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade, 1500-1800 (exh. cat.), New York - London, The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Thames and Hudson, 2013, p. 28-45.
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A gem-set inlaid katar North India, 18thcentury 39cm long
A silver-gilt overlaid katar inlaid with precious and semi-precious stones. The hilt is comprised of five sections; the outer part of the push dagger is decorated with flower heads and foliage inlaid with rubies and diamonds. The inside of the handles has engraved floral decoration. The double-edged steel blade has an armour piercing tip.
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Indian katar with inlaid emeralds
India, Late 18th / early 19thcentury 40cm long
Provenance: Private European Collection
A katar splendidly set with floral carved emerald panels running along the side of each handle. The inside of the katar handle is decorated with Mughalstyle flowers inset with rubies and rose-cut diamonds which also adorn both sides of the transversal bars. Along the edges of the handles are small emerald stones inset within narrow channels. The steel double-edged blade measures 21.5cm. This katar was made in one of the princely states under the Mughal influence. A Mughal pandan from the Shah Jahan period, circa 1635, in The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, displays the same style of carved emerald rectangular panels as seen in this katar. The emeralds on the pandan are carved with stylistic floral panels set within a gold border; see Piotrovsky, Earthly Beauty, Heavenly Art: Art of Islam, Lund Humphries Publishers, 2001, p. 277, pl. 277.
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A rare Mughal quiver India, 17th / 18th century 69.5cm high
A rare leather quiver covered with cloth and embroidered with silver and green, yellow, red and pink silk threads. The silk embroidery is composed of red and pink flowers in a trellis pattern. The quiver has a braided shoulder strap and flat belts. For two similar Indian quivers, from the 17th / 18th century, see Ricketts, Splendour of Oriental Arms, Acte - Expo, Paris, 4th May - 31st July 1988, p. 109, pl. 183 and 184. Also, see a 17th / 18th century leather quiver with a similar form and golden threads published in Mohamed, The Arts of the Muslim Knight: The Furusiyya Art Foundation Collection, Skira, 2008, p. 389, pl. 365.
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An illustrated and illuminated leaf from the Shahnameh, Abdul Qasim Ferdowsi:
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Esfandiar Slaying the Dragon Iran, 16thcentury Shiraz school Ink, watercolour and gold on paper Folio 36.5cm high, 24cm wide Provenance: Private European Collection
This illuminated manuscript leaf illustrates a story from the Persian Book of Kings, Shahnameh, in which Esfandiar, a legendary hero, must perform and endure seven trials. The story illustrated here is of Esfandiar slaying the dragon. The nasta ‘liq calligraphy is represented in four columns with foliage and mountains against a blue sky. The left side is painted with an elaborately depicted dragon overlapping the border. The dragon is facing the approaching horse carriage with three figures hiding behind the rocks. On the lower part of the miniature, there are four columns of nasta ‘liq calligraphy set against rocks and fauna. The reverse of the miniature has four columns of nasta ‘liq calligraphy describing the story of the Fourth Labour, the killing of the sorcerer. This illustration depicts Esfandiar hiding inside the chest in the horse carriage. However, the dragon sees from afar the approaching horses. Esfandiar becomes very excited when he sees the screaming dragon and jumps out of the chest with a sharp sword in his hand cutting the dragon’s head into two pieces.
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A Couple Enjoying a Terrace Ambiance at Night
Mughal, Uttar Pradesh, Faizabad or Lucknow, ca. 1750-1770 Attributed to Nidha Mal
Ink, opaque watercolour, and gold on paper 31cm high, 26cm wide Painted in cool greys with subtle colours, a loving couple walk in a walled garden, probably in the zenana or harem of their palace. A handmaiden leads the way holding a lighted candle and a group of women follow the couple. One holds a morchal or peacock feathered whisk and the others play stringed musical instruments. Beyond the wall are blossoming trees and cypresses. The couple are walking in the moonlight towards the pavilion for a loving encounter. The cool moon glow and fine detailing of the painting give this scene an atmospheric effect. Terrace settings painted in fine grey and white tones with figures shimmering in moonlight became a preference for the Mughal court artist Nidha Mal after his move to Lucknow. This painting compares favourably to a signed moonlit painting by Nidha Mal, published in Markel, India’s Fabled City: The Art of Courtly Lucknow, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2010, fig. 20, p. 171.
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A rare silver throne chair India, 19thcentury 135 high, 75cm wide, 55cm deep
The arched back of this chair has pierced decorations with a crown in the centre of the back rail, below this is a coat of arms flanked by two lions. The plush red velvet seat has silver-gilt metal purl work and striped decoration mimicking lion’s fur; each outer side of the arms shows the side view of a silver bodied lion with a carved mane. The back side of the chair is decorated with the reverse of the coat of arms, two lions, flowers and foliage with a cartouche enclosing a pair of peacocks. The end of each arm has a recumbent lion with amber-coloured glass eyes. The paws, mouth and parts of the lion still have remnants of red enamel. The seat-rail has a lion mask amongst flowers and foliage. The chair has two front cabriole legs terminating in lion’s paws; square rear legs. Influenced by the East India Company, the Indian furniture makers combined high-quality and labour intensive craftsmanship with European taste. Indian furniture was in its height of demand for luxury goods in Europe, especially between the 17th and th 19 centuries. The Maharaja of Travancore had commissioned a throne chair to present to Queen Victoria during the Great Exhibition in 1851. This repousse silver throne chair is a rare surviving example, exceptionally preserved with its red velvet upholstery and silver-gilt metal threads. A design for an armchair with tiger arm-rests and floral ornaments is published in Skelton, The Indian Heritage: Court Life and Arts under Mughal Rule, V&A Museum, 1982, p. 69, pl. 188. See a similar style throne chair covered in silver with lion arm-rests but with four cabriole legs in Jaffer, Furniture from British India and Ceylon: A Catalogue of the Collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Peabody Essex Museum, Timeless Books, India, 2001, p. 227, pl. 100.
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Gujarati mother-of-pearl
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inlaid doors India, 18thcentury 179cm high, 77cm wide
A stunning pair of Indian hardwood painted doors of rectangular form, clad in mother-of-pearl and secured with gilt-metal pins and rosettes. On each narrow door, there is a gilt-bronze ring handle. The surface of the doors is entirely decorated with a mother-of-pearl geometric design and inset mother-of-pearl flowers overlaid on top of painted mica. These doors are made in the same Gujarati tradition as mother-of-pearl decorated objects, often seen in museum collections, and which were made for the export market (mainly to Portugal) during the 16th and 17thcenturies. During this period, mother-of-pearl Kunstkammer works were highly sought after by European collectors. In terms of composition and technique, these rare doors share the same decorative characteristics as the luxury caskets, powder horns, rifles and daggers produced in Gujarat. Today, these extraordinary doors stand as an important testament to the longstanding tradition and excellence of Gujarati craftsmen during the 16th and 17thcenturies. For a comparative example, see a mother-of-pearl dagger handle (kard) with geometric design published in Okada, L’Inde des Princes: La donation Jean et Krishna Riboud, Réunion des Musées nationaux, Paris, 2000, p. 57, Accession Number MA 6795.
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Tulwar handle with gold inlay North India, 18thcentury 16cm high
This iron sword handle (tulwar) has raised overlaid gold floral decoration. The shape of this North Indian sword handle is typical. However, the elevated gold inlay decoration is rare.
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A large and impressive Indian throne chair India, 17th / 18th century
134cm high, 53cm wide, 67cm deep
Provenance: Private European Collection
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A large rosewood high-backed throne chair inlaid with ivory. The back of the chair is decorated with floral and square ivory panels inlaid with ebony. The flat paddle arm rests are decorated with inlaid ivory florets; the arm rest supports are of turned hardwood. The legs are carved with inlaid ivory florets with scalloped decoration and a caned throne seat. This chair belongs to a small group of inlaid furniture made in India for export to the Middle East. The style of inlay and composition of the panels relate very closely to the two chairs in the Gayer-Anderson Museum in Cairo, Egypt. These chairs are described as, “two large Indian wedding chairs of inlaid wood” and are located in the Ladies’ Quarters (the Harem Room) inside Bayt al-Kritliyya (see Warner, Guide to the Gayer-Anderson Museum Cairo, Supreme Council of Antiquities, Cairo, 2003, p. 18-19). The “Oriental bed of inlaid wood” (Warner, p. 36) in The Damascus Room of the Gayer-Anderson Museum also displays the same panelled wood decoration inlaid with ivory florets on the foot of the bed and also on the bed canopy and poles. Other examples include Indian drop-front cabinets found in various museums and collections. The two-square panels containing micro-mosaic border on the back of the chair relate directly to the casket of Ranjit Singh, Mughal, India, 17thcentury, in the Kapany Collection (Stronge, The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms, V&A Publications, London, 1999, p. 81, pl. 89). This specific group of inlaid furniture differs in its execution to the repertoire of more commonly seen “Indo-Portuguese” furniture which possess finer ivory inlay in addition to coloured woods with some figurative and animal designs. Very little, if any, academic work has been conducted thus far to classify this type of Indian furniture. This throne chair has a stronger European influence in composition than those in the Gayer-Anderson Museum. The latter chairs seem to be loosely related to the “Chairs of Power” (Kiti Cha Enzi) that were produced in East Africa and based on classical Mughal throne chair design. See two different African “Chairs of Power” in The Art Institute of Chicago, Accession Number 2004.476 and The British Museum, London, Accession Number AOA 1962, Af 3.1.
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Indo-Portuguese table cabinet India or Sri Lanka, 17thcentury 34cm high, 57cm wide, 37cm deep
This rectangular table cabinet has double-fronted doors made of teak and clad with tortoiseshell and ivory decoration. The two doors open to reveal 13 small drawers with ivory borders and pendant style handles. The tortoiseshell panels are framed with ivory mouldings and embellished in parts with rows of micro-mosaic design. The tortoiseshell panels on the top, back, sides and doors of this cabinet are reinforced with five brass studs; each side of the cabinet with a brass handle. See a 17thcentury smaller, drop-front cabinet, of ivory, tortoiseshell and similar metal handles in Dias, Mobiliario Indo-Portugues, Imaginalis, 2013, p. 113.
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Hispano-Philippines ivory head of a Saint Philippines, 17th / 18th century 16cm high
A fine solid ivory head of a Saint, possibly depicting a friar saint or San Francisco, with a detailed naturalistically carved beard and hair with some remnants of gilt. The eyes are glass; the top of the head may have held a halo which would have been parasolshaped and positioned above the middle of the head. For similar examples, see Jose, Images of Faith: Religious Ivory Carvings from the Philippines, Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, 1990.
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Photos: Angelo Plantamura Texts: Amir Mohtashemi, Trina Lee Johnson, Dr Robert Del Bonta and Hugo Miguel Crespo Layout: Françoise Barrier Consulting fbarrierconsulting@gmail.com Printing: Cassochrome, Waregem, Belgium January 2015 © Amir Mohtashemi Ltd AMIR MOHTASHEMI LTD 69 Kensington Church Street London W8 4BG www.amirmohtashemi.com
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