An Important Mamluk Gilded and Enamelled Candlestick Base, Syria or Egypt, mid-14th century

in the shape of a tapering cylinder with flange at shoulder and towards base, candlestick socket or holder has broken off leaving a stub of glass in the centre of the slightly sunken shoulder, glass with a brownish tinge and many tiny bubbles, the body decorated with a bold scrolling design of palmettes and arabesques in gold outlined with red enamel with blue and green glass bosses applied within each arabesque and palmette (many of these are now missing), an inscription written in gold on a blue enamel ground runs around the vessel just above the lower flange, below this flange is a frieze of cruciform motifs in gold outlined with red enamel, the shoulder decorated with a series of lobed arches in gold and blue enamel with an arabesque and palmette design within in gold outlined with red enamel, customised red leather box with a brass label engraved 'Collection George Eumorfopoulos' on the exterior, a circular paper label reading 'George Eumorfopoulos' is pasted within the body of the candlestick, modern replacement socket made of resin compound

By 1910, in the Collection of George Eumorfopoulos (1863-1939).
Sold by Order of Mrs. Eumorfopoulos and of the Executors of George Eumorfopoulos Esq., Sotheby & Co. London, The Eumorfopoulos Collections, 5 June 1940, lot 106.

Fry, R., 'The Munich Exhibition of Mohammedan Art II', The Burlington Magazine, September 1910, p.333, and illustrated pl. II (1).
Devonshire, Mrs R.L., 'Moslem objects in the Eumorfopoulos Collection', Apollo, vol.V, January 1927, p.15.
Lamm, C.J., Mittelalterliche Gläser und Steinschnittarbeiten aus dem Nahen Osten, Berlin 1929-30, vol.1, p.305 and illustrated vol.2, pl.115, no.9.
Sotheby's, The Eumorfopoulos Collections, London, 5 June 1940, lot 106.
Hardie, P., 'Mamluk Glass from China?' in Ward, R., ed., Gilded and Enamelled Glass from the Middle East, London, 1998, p.88, and fig.20.5.
Ward, R., 'Big Mamluk Buckets', in Annales of 16th Congress of l'Association Internationale pour l'Histoire du Verre, ed. Hilary Cool, Nottingham, 2005, pp.184-185.

Some losses to raised coloured glass bosses, modern replacement socket made of resin compound, some areas of rubbing to the gilding, one very minor chip to the shoulder rim, otherwise in overall good condition, 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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

inscriptions

The inscription consists of a series of rhyming couplets written in informal cursive style:

al-'izz al-da'im wa al-'umr al-salim wa al-jadd al-sa'id wa al-dahr al-musa'id wa al-dahr al-musa'id (sic) wa al-iqbal al-za'id wa al-amr al-nafidh wa al-sa'ada al-shamila wa al-ni'ma al-kamila wa al-baraka al-fadila wa...

'Perpetual Glory and safe Life and rising Good-fortune and favourable Destiny and favourable Destiny (sic) and increasing Prosperity and penetrating Command and perfect Happiness and complete [God's] Grace and exceeding Blessing and...'

Most inscriptions on enamelled glass of the 13th and 14th century contain anonymous royal titles. Rhyming couplets are rarer, but a very similar selection of rhyming couplets feature on the 'Charlemagne beaker' (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Chartres, inv. no.5144, illustrated in Institut du Monde arabe 2001, pp.190-191, no.203) and on several fragments (eg. Benaki Museum, Athens, inv. nos.3560, 3561 and 3562, illustrated in Institut du Monde Arabe 2001, nos.207-209).

technique

The brownish, bubbly quality of the body glass, the range and application of the enamels are typical of Mamluk enamelled glass vessels. Most unusual are the coloured glass bosses which stand well proud of the vessel. They must have been applied as blobs of hot molten glass as enamels (crushed coloured glass mixed with a little gum Arabic) would not have given the desired three-dimensional quality. Presumably they were applied when the candlestick was returned to the furnace to fire the enamels, but the vessel glass was not hot enough to provide a strong bond which is why most of them have dropped off. 

prototypes and comparable examples

The shape of the candlestick resembles the numerous surviving inlaid brass candlesticks which became popular in Mosul in the early thirteenth century and which continued to be produced in Syria, Egypt and Iran. These were almost certainly inspired by precious metal candlesticks which have not survived. The glass bosses on this candlestick suggest that it was modelled on a precious metal example encrusted with precious or semi-precious stones.

Only one other enamelled glass candlestick is known; it is slightly larger, but the shape and manufacture are the same (Corning Museum, inv. no.90.1.1, Carboni and Whitehouse 2001, pp.270-71). Closely related to these candlesticks are a series of containers, which are the same shape (minus the candleholder) but inverted to create 'buckets'. One of these has been in the Landesmuseum in Kassel since its foundation in the 1770s (Ward 2003, colour plate 40). A second is now in the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha (Ward 2003, colour plate 39). A third used to be in Prince Yusuf Kamal's collection and is now in the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo (illustrated in Lamm 1929-30, vol.II, pl.182, no.2). A fourth was in the collection of Madame Edouard André in 1929 but its present location is unknown (illustrated in Schmoranz 1899, 33, fig.30; Lamm 1929-30, vol.II,  pl.179, no.11). A fifth is in the Gulbenkian collection in Lisbon (inv. no.2377, illustrated in Ribeiro and Hallet 1999, 120-121, no.8). Fragments of the distinctive rim and pinched flange seen on the candlesticks and buckets have been found at Fustat (for illustrations of some of these see Lamm 1929-30, vol.2, pl.119, no.17; pl.132, nos.26 & 28; pl.133, no.1; pl.182, no.2).

dating

Lamm attributed the candlestick to his Aleppo group and dated it circa 1250 (Lamm 1929-30, vol.I, 305, vol.II, pl.115, no.9), but Ward has suggested that the group of buckets and candlesticks should be dated to the middle of the 14th century (Ward 2003) and this dating is followed here. The palmette and arabesque scroll on this candlestick can be compared to the decoration on some of the lamps made for the Mosque of Sultan Hasan in Cairo, built during his second reign (AD 1354-61) and it is probably of similar date (see for example Wiet 1929, pl.XXVIII).

ownership history

The candlestick was acquired by the collector George Eumorfopoulos (1863-1939) before 1910, when it was published by Roger Fry at the time of the Munich Exhibition (though it was not displayed in the exhibition). Fry praised the "hitherto unpublished" candlestick for "the harmony and purity of design" and "consummate mastery of draughtsmanship" (Fry 1910, p.333). According to Eumorfopoulos the candlestick came from China. He claimed that two other enamelled glass vessels in his collection, a large bowl (now Toledo Museum of Art, inv. no.44.33, illustrated Ward 1998, pl.21.4) and a tall beaker (now Lisbon, Gulbenkian Museum, inv. no.2378, illustrated Ward 1998, pl.12.2), also came from China but it is unclear whether they were acquired together with the candlestick (see Hardie 1998 in Ward 1998, pp.85-90, for an assessment of the several Chinese provenances given to enamelled glass vessels). After the death of Eumorfopoulos, his collections were sold at Sotheby & Co. London, on 5th and 6th June 1940. The candlestick (lot 106) was unsold at the auction but sold privately afterwards. Since then it has been in a private collection, its precise whereabouts until recently unknown.

bibliography

Carboni, S., and D. Whitehouse, Glass of the Sultans, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001.
Devonshire, Mrs R.L., 'Moslem objects in the Eumorfopoulos Collection', Apollo, January 1927, pp.12-17.
Fry, R., 'The Munich Exhibition of Mohammedan Art II', The Burlington Magazine, vol 17, September 1910, pp.327-333.
Hardie, P., 'Mamluk Glass from China?' in Ward, R. ed., Gilded and Enamelled Glass from the Middle East, London, 1998, pp.85-90.
Institut du Monde arabe, L'Orient de Saladin, l'art des Ayyoubides,  exhibition catalogue, Paris, 2001.
Lamm, C.J., Mittelalterliche Gläser und Steinschnittarbeiten aus dem Nahen Osten, Berlin. 1929-30.
Ribeiro, M., and J. Hallet, Mamluk Glass in the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon, 1999.
Schmoranz, G., Old Oriental Gilt and Enamelled Glass Vessels, London, 1899.
Sotheby & Co., The Eumorfopoulos Collections, London, 5 June 1940.
Ward, R., ed., Gilded and Enamelled Glass from the Middle East, British Museum Press, London, 1998.
Ward, R., 'Big Mamluk Buckets', in Annales du 16e Congrès de l'Association Internationale pour l'Histoire du Verre, ed. Hilary Cool, Nottingham, 2003, pp.182-185.
Wiet, G., Lampes et bouteilles en verre émaillé, Cairo, 1929.