A RARE ILKHANID OR GOLDEN HORDE SILVER CASKET
CENTRAL ASIA, 14TH/ 15TH CENTURY
Estimate: £3,000 - £4,000
Auction: 11 June 2025 from 10:00 BST
Description
of hexagonal form on three anthropomorphic feet, with teardrop-shaped openwork bosses on each side and each facet of the lid, against a scrolling vegetal design, the bosses flanked by rearing deer
Dimensions
9.5cm high; 7cm diameter.
Provenance
Formerly, the collection of Richard Trescott (1941-2018), London.
Footnote
Although there was clearly a taste for precious metal objects among the Mongol rulers of the Golden Horde in Russia and Central Asia and the Ilkhanate in Iran, very little of this has survived. Many such pieces would have been melted down over the centuries. This small but very fine casket is therefore a rare survival from this time, especially as it is in such good condition. The vegetal design of the background is paralleled in silver objects from this period, such as a fine silver-gilt cup in the David Collection (see accession no. 48/1979). Similarly, the openwork bosses are comparable to the silver and gold belt buckles worn as personal adornments by the Mongol elites of Eurasia (see L. Komaroff, The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353, Metropolitan Museum of Art: 2002, p. 55 fig. 53, cat. 156 and p. 62 fig. 57, cat. 143). The motif of deer among foliage seen on the sides of the casket was also popular among the Mongol elites of Eurasia. It is commonly found on Mongol-era belt mounts, including one which belonged to a member of the ruling family of the Golden Horde. This design appears to have derived from the Jin dynasty of China, conquered by the Mongols in 1234, where it was an element of military regalia (see Mohamed Bashir, The Arts of the Muslim Knight: The Furusiyya Art Foundation Collection, Skira: 2008, p. 130 no. 120).