A rare and important Spanish Ivory-revetted micro-mosaic gaming board, Andalusia, 15th century

composed of two rectagular sections hinged together, the walnut carcass revetted throughout with ivory, wood and metal wire, the interior with a recessed backgammon board with arcades of micro-mosaic darts separated by ivory plaques, the centre with cartouches enclosing floral arrangements within stepped borders in rectangular frames with micro-mosaic detail in the spandrels, the raised outer edges with micro-mosaic and decorative banding and ivory plaques pierced with holes, the exterior with a chessboard with squares alternately decorated with plain ivory and micro-mosaic star-form panels bordered at the ends by panels with floral bouquets, the outer edges slightly raised and decorated with alternating panels of plain ivory and quatrefoil lozenge motifs, areas of loss to the revetment exposing scraps of printed parchment beneath

areas of loss to inlay particularly to borders and extremities, visible in catalogue illustration, areas of splitting and lifting to ivory plaques, hinges later replacements, as viewed
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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An extremely rare and fine example of luxury ivory and micro-mosaic work from Nasrid Spain.

It is rare to find extant examples of ivory and micro-mosaic work from the fifteenth century. The precision and delicacy of the technique and the organic nature of the materials makes objects of this kind highly susceptible to the vicissitudes of ageing. It is therefore all the more remarkable to find such a splendid example which has survived virtually untouched.

The interest and importance of the piece is further enhanced by valuable evidence that allows us to date the object securely to the late fifteenth century. Close inspection of exposed areas of the wooden frame reveals scraps of medieval parchment that were introduced as an underlay or ground to improve the adhesion of the mosaic overlay. Intriguingly, these vellum scraps bear traces of verses from a psalter which are printed rather than hand-written. Since printing was only briefly used on parchment in the second half of the fifteenth century, this provides us with a terminus post quem and vital dating evidence for the piece.

The tradition of inlaying ivory and other materials into wood was a highly specialised technique developed in Muslim workshops in the Umayyad period recorded in both Spain and North Africa.  The earliest surviving example is the minbar of the Kutibiye Mosque in Marrakesh, made in Cordova in 1137 for the Almoravid ruler 'Ali bin Yusuf bin Tashfin (r.1106-42). The Kutubiye minbar emulated an earlier example, known only from literary accounts, from the Great Mosque of Cordova commissioned by Al-Hakim II (A.H.366 / A.D.976) which is said to have been inlaid with red and yellow sandalwood, ebony, ivory and Indian aloewood (Ecker 2004, p.162).

The inlay on Nasrid-period examples is typically made up of polygonal tessarae of ivory, bone, metal, wood and sometimes (though not in this instance) mother-of-pearl arranged in geometrical patterns. The eight-pointed star formed out of interlocking squares is diagnostic of the group and can be seen on the majority of Nasrid pieces that survive. These are mostly in museums in Granada, including a pair of cabinet doors in the Palacio de los Infantes (Dodds 1992, pp.372-3, no.118), a chest in the Museo Arqueológico y Etnológico (Granada 1995, p.454, no.198), and other examples in the Museo de la Alhambra (ibid., pp.427-8, no.181).

A similar gaming board is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, inv. no.168 (see von Seipel, Wilfred, Spielwelten der Kunst. Kunstkammerspiele: Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Milan, 1998, cat. no.24). For related examples of Nasrid period work on the market, see Sotheby's, 27 April 2005, lot 81, and 30 April 2003, lot 47, and Drouot, Paris, 7 June 1999, lot 149.