FINE ENAMELLED DAGGER AND SCABBARD DECORATED WITH SPRING FLOWERS

Dagger with curved steel blade, and scabbard. Hilt with red cabochon tourmalaine finial, hilt and scabbard decorated with polychrome enamel decoration, with spring blossoms, and green leaves with gilt copper borders.

Enamelled hilts and scabbards of this type have been produced throughout the second half of the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries across the Middle East. Similarly decorated enamelled daggers have been catalogued both as from the Ottoman and the Qajar empires. A similar example, catalogued as Qajar, is in the British Museum. Please the link, https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/ object/W_1878-1230-903

On the other hand, a closely related enamelled dagger and scabbard (Accession No. JLY 1748), also signed ‘Ahmad’, dated 1231 A.H. (1815 C.E.), in the D. Nasser Khalili Collection, London, is catalogued as Ottoman. Please see, David Alexander, The Arts of War – Arms and Armour of the 7th to 19th Centuries, The Nour Foundation, Azimuth Editions and Oxford University Press, London, 1992, no. 87, pp. 146-147.

The artist’s signature ‘Ahmad’ on the Khalili dagger is identical with the signature on the present dagger. Our dagger, therefore, appears to have been produced by the same artist who produced the Khalili dagger.

Spring flowers and blossoms, decorating the present piece, are much favoured motifs widely used in Ottoman art. In Ottoman culture, flowers were a constant part of daily life, grown in gardens everywhere, from palaces to humble homes. Flowers were blessed reminders of the gardens of heaven. Foreign travellers and ambassadors who visited the Ottoman Empire frequently remarked about this love of flowers. For further information please see, Motif from the Sadberk Hanım Museum Collection (written by Turgut Saner, Şebnem Eryavuz and Hülya Bilgi), Sadberk Hanım Museum, Istanbul, 2020, pp. 86-90.

A comparable Ottoman incense-burner, very similarly decorated with enamel, was sold at Christie’s, London. Please see, Christie’s - Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds including Oriental Rugs and Carpets, 26 October 2017, Lot 207.

Provenance:

Ex-Private South Carolina Collection

24 EXTREMELY RARE AND IMPORTANT OTTOMAN SILVER-GILT MOSQUE OR THRONE ORNAMENT

Ottoman Empire 17th-18th Century

Heigth: (The Ornament)

16.8 cm.

Heigth: (The Ornament with the Tassel) 59 cm.

The eight-ribbed cantaloupe-melon-form ornament, set with peridots and carnelians, mostly cabochon, in the contours, at the base a large rock crystal bead emanating a thread tassel.

Peridots, decorating the present hanging ornament, were mined in Egypt (on the island of Zabarjad in the Red Sea) throughout the Ottoman period and the treasury of the Topkapı Palace still contains large numbers of polished but unset peridots. Carnelians, much favoured in Islamic jewellery, were mostly mined in India.

Hanging ornaments, similar to the present one, decorated with precious and semi-precious stones -such as peridots and carnelians- were used for decorating mosque interiors and as throne-ornaments. The historians relate that from the earliest centuries of Islam it was the custom of rulers to send valuable ornaments to be hung at the Ka’bah in Mecca and in the Tomb of the Prophet at Medina. Traditionally hanging ornaments were suspended from the dome in mosques because the dome symbolized the sky, and the hanging ornaments, sparkling with peridots and carnelians, symbolized the stars. In this symbolism, there is a direct reference to the Qur’an [24:35]: “Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth. His light may be likened to a niche wherein is a lamp, and the lamp is in the crystal which shines in starlike brilliance.”

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As a characteristic feature in these hanging ornaments, a rock crystal bead emanating a thread tassel, as in the present piece, is a direct reminder of the words of this Qur’anic verse [24:35]: “… in the crystal which shines in star-like brilliance” (

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Comparable hanging ornaments in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, Istanbul, are published in Nazan Ölçer et al, Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, Akbank, Istanbul, 2002, pp. 298, 299. According to the museum’s register, two of these ornaments, similar to the present piece in form and decoration, were brought to the museum from the Laleli Mosque in Istanbul. Please see, ibid, 2002, p. 298.

Two imperial Ottoman hanging ornaments, made for the Mosque of Prophet Muhammad (Masjid al-Nabavi) in Medina, have survived. The first, decorated with a large emerald, commissioned by the Ottoman sultan Mustafa III (r. 1757-1774), is in the Topkapı Palace Museum (inv. no. 2/7618). Please see the exhibition catalogue, Topkapı Palace: The Imperial Treasury, MAS, Istanbul, 2001, p. 46. The second one, decorated with three emeralds, also made for the Mosque of Prophet Muhammad (Masjid al-Nabavi) in Medina, commissioned by Sultan Abdulhamid I (r. 1774-1789), is in the Topkapı Palace Museum (inv. no. 2/7617). Please see ibid, 2001, p. 52.

Hanging ornaments continued to be produced in various forms. Some comparable examples were used for decorating thrones. There are certain similarities in decoration which indicate a relation between hanging ornaments and thrones. For example, sharing a very similar aesthetic with the present ornament, some of the imperial Ottoman thrones in Topkapı Palace Museum are richly decorated with peridots. The best-known example is the magnificent bayram tahtı (the ‘Festival Throne’, the Topkapı Palace Museum, Inv. No. 2/2825) on which the sultan was accustomed to receive dignitaries of the empire on the great feasts of the Muslim year. Set with 954 peridots, the festival throne was the principal symbol of power and sovereignty among the Ottomans. Please see, Ibid, 2001, p. 51.

Hanging ornament in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, Istanbul, (Inv no. 188), brought to the museum from the Laleli Mosque in Istanbul, After Nazan Ölçer et al, Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, Akbank, Istanbul, 2002, p. 298.

Hanging ornaments above Sultan Ahmed III’s (r. 1703-1730) throne. After the exhibition catalogue, Lale Devrinin bir Görgü Tanığı Jean-Baptiste Vanmour, texts written by Eveline Sint Nicolaes et al, Koçbank, Istanbul, 2003, p. 195.

A painting by Jean-Baptiste Vanmour, depicting the meeting of Sultan Ahmed III (r. 1703-1730) and the Dutch ambassador Cornelis Calkoen, in the ‘Room of Petitions’ (Arz Odası) in the Topkapı Palace, provides visual documentation. In this painting, there are six hanging ornaments, comparable with the present one, hanging above Ahmed III’s throne. Please see the exhibition catalogue, Lale Devrinin bir Görgü Tanığı Jean-Baptiste Vanmour, texts written by Eveline Sint Nicolaes et al, Koçbank, Istanbul, 2003, p. 195.

A very similar Ottoman silver-gilt mosque or throne ornament, set with peridots, was sold at Sotheby’s, for £600,000. Please see, Sotheby’s – Arts of the Islamic World including Fine Carpets and Textiles, 14 April 2010, Lot. 282.

The present Ottoman hanging ornament is a truly rare survival and an exceptionally rare example of this type.

Provenance: Important Private European Collection

India

Height: 5 cm. Width 6 cm.

Jade dated 1051 A.H. / 1641

C.E. Produced during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1627-1658)

The Gold Frame with Set-Jewels: 19th Century