Lot 17
A FINE OTTOMAN MOTHER-OF-PEARL,TORTOISESHELL AND IVORY-INLAID CALLIGRAPHER'S CHEST Y
TURKEY, 18TH CENTURY
Estimate: £8,000 - £12,000
Auction: 11 December 2024 from 10:00 GMT
Description
of rectangular form on four bracket feet, three drawers to front, decorated allover with tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl sections centred around a flowerhead on the top and geometric designs, repeat geometric designs around the sides, with ivory and metalwork outlines, criss-cross borders
Dimensions
29.2cm x 68.2cm x 32.5cm
Footnote
The striking and fine quality decoration consisting of geometric patterns on this calligrapher’s chest follows the Ottoman fashion of the late 16th to early 17th century, seen in different forms of art. The arrangement of the pentagonal mother-of-pearl sections centred around a flowerhead is comparable to the decoration on a pair of doors in the pavilion of Sultan Murad III (r. 1595-1603) in the Topkapi Museum, and on a Qur’an stand in the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum, Istanbul (see J. David (ed), Turks, A Journey of a Thousand Years, Exhibition Catalogue, London, 2005, pp.374-375).
Chests of this quality were commissioned and owned by the Ottoman elite, including statesmen, scholars and calligraphers. Not only did they have a practical use to hold the important tools for calligraphy, but they also reflected luxury through their aesthetic design.
A comparable chest sold at Sotheby's, Arts of the Islamic World, 22 April 2015, lot 239.
