FINE OTTOMAN SILVER-GILT REPOUSSĒ BOWL
GREECE, 18TH CENTURY
£1,063
Fine Asian & Islamic Works of Art
Auction: 6 November 2019 at 12:00 GMT
Description
of rounded form with a raised centre decorated with a dragon, the interior sides decorated with various animals in relief including a deer, wolf, wild boar and a winged figure holding a bow and arrow
Dimensions
11.8cm diam.; 67.2grams
Footnote
Note: This bowl is a rare and important example of 18th century Ottoman Greek silverware. It is richly decorated with iconography derived both from ancient Greek mythology and the Eastern Orthodox tradition. Each figure has a meaning; the winged figure holding a bow is Eros, symbolic of hope and love; the two deer are symbolic of piety and devotion; the wolf symbolises the founding of pagan Rome; the pig represents forbidden food, and lastly; the dog is symbolic of patience, loyalty and obedience.
A comparable bowl is in the Sadberk Hanim Museum, Istanbul, see ‘A Treasured Memory – Ecclesiastic Silver from Late Ottoman Istanbul in the Sevgi Gönül Collection’, 2006, no. 32-33, pp. 62-64.