A rare Ottoman miquelet-lock rifle with ivory and mother of pearl mounts, Turkey, mid-18th century

This lot contains ivory. Sotheby's recommends that buyers check with their own government regarding any importation requirements prior to placing a bid. For example, US regulations restrict the import of elephant ivory and prohibit the import of African elephant ivory. Please note that Sotheby's will not assist buyers with CITES licence applications where a buyer elects to either collect or arrange their own shipping, nor will Sotheby's assist with the international movement of ivory by air, either as freight or through hand carry. Sotheby's shipping will only assist in shipping the lot to either domestic UK or EU destinations, where delivery is made by road transport. Please note that CITES licences are required for the export of any restricted species from the UK, including to EU countries. A buyer's inability to export or import these lots cannot justify a delay in payment or sale cancellation.

It is thought that this rare type of gun bearing white and green-stained ivory decoration was made for the bodyguard of the Ottoman sultan. Traditionally ascribed to the late seventeenth/early eighteenth century (Paris 1988, nos.42 and 43), a dated example in the Nasser D. Khalili Collection, London (d.1191 AH/1777-8 AD) suggests that the whole group should be reassigned to a later period (Alexander 1992, pp.128-9, no.73). Michael Rogers, however, convincingly points to documentation that such pieces were certainly manufactured in seventeenth century Istanbul: "In his account of Bitlis in 1655-6, Evliya Celebi gives a list of muskets by the most reputed makers allegedly in the collection of Abdal Khan, the ruler of that principality. Among the Istanbul masters, he lists Memi, Kuçuk Omer, Uzun Mehmed and Kara Mehmed Ketbeli as specialists in jewelling and encrustation" (Rogers 1995, p.154).

Comparable examples of ivory-inlaid Ottoman guns are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no.32.75.270), the Military Museum in Istanbul (Washington 2000, p.160, no.E25), the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (inv. no.M.49-1946), the Wallace Collection, London (Laking 1914, no.2091) and in a private collection (see von Folsach, Meyer and Wandel 2021, p.269, no.150). A similar example was sold in these rooms, 7 October 2015, lot 405.