Tâs veneto-sarrasin

Tâs veneto-sarrasin

Syria, 14th century

In silver-inlaid brass, with flattened rim, the outer walls decorated with six roundels animated by a coat of arms or a lotus flower in full bloom, separated by geometric interlacing, the underside adorned with interlacing and floral arabesques, the bottom inlaid with black organic matter. 14.5 x 6.5 cm. Provenance : Sotheby's public sale, April 22, 2015, no. 3 Former French collection of Jacques Arcache, in Cairo before 1965, who died in St Cloud in 1978, then by inheritance. The term "Veneto-Saracenic" refers to metalwork carried out mainly in Egypt and Syria, on objects intended for export (14th to 16th centuries). The objects are decorated with arabesques, Islamic geometric motifs and Venetian and European coats-of-arms. Scientific debate on the group of metal objects known as "Veneto-Saracenic" has led to their being attributed to both Venice and the Middle East. These objects, often finely worked and displaying multiple influences, reflect the vast commercial network between Renaissance Europe and the Islamic world at the time. For a complete analysis of this type of bowl, see S. Auld, Renaissance Venice, Islam and Mahmud the Kurd - A Metalworking Enigma, 2004, pp.141-197. A fine Veneto-Saracenic silver-inlaid brass bowl, probably Syria, 14th century. with flattened rim, the body with six roundels containing a blazon or a lotus blossom, with geometric pattern in between, the underside with bands with further vegetal and geometric motifs, with vestiges of a black organic material inlay.