Arts of the Islamic World & India including Fine Rugs and Carpets
Arts of the Islamic World & India including Fine Rugs and Carpets
A group of early Islamic glass fragments, Egypt and Syria, 9th-14th century
Auction Closed
March 31, 12:40 PM GMT
Estimate
5,000 - 7,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
comprising eighteen Mamluk fragments: some with applied gold leaf, lustre and polychrome enamels; subjects include: two figural, a row of fish, a few with birds, a few with pseudo-inscriptions, an architectural scene, some floral motifs; one larger deep purple glass fragment with applied enamel and gold, the base of a bowl with fish painted in lustre, seven millefiori glass fragments, including a rare gold sandwich glass fragment
28
6.4 by 5.1cm. max.
Ex-collection John J. Slocum (1914-97).
John Slocum was a respected scholar who started collecting while serving as a U.S. cultural attaché in Berlin (1950-60) and while attached to the Embassy in Egypt (1960-63). Later, he served as Assistant to the Director of the Smithsonian, and was appointed by President Reagan to the Presidential Cultural Property Advisory Committee and a Trustee Emeritus of the Archaeological Institute of America. The John J. Slocum Collection of Coins of the Crusades was sold in these rooms, 6-7 March 1997.
John Slocum was a respected scholar who started collecting while serving as a U.S. cultural attaché in Berlin (1950-60) and while attached to the Embassy in Egypt (1960-63). Later, he served as Assistant to the Director of the Smithsonian, and was appointed by President Reagan to the Presidential Cultural Property Advisory Committee and a Trustee Emeritus of the Archaeological Institute of America. The John J. Slocum Collection of Coins of the Crusades was sold in these rooms, 6-7 March 1997.
Each of these sherds belongs to a number of highly important groups of glass testifying to the various productions of glass within the early Islamic lands.
The piece of sandwich glass is the earliest and most rare example in this group. The technique, which was first used by the Romans (circa fourth century AD) and went on to be developed by the Byzantines, involves sandwiching a gold-leaf decorative pattern between two layers of glass. In this particular example, the gold leaf has been applied to the glass on the inside after which a second layer of glass has been blown into the first as can be seen along the edges of the piece.
There are only a handful of surviving examples located in major public collections: a fragmentary cup in the David Collection (inv. no.4/1987) (von Folsach 2001, p.213, no.325; Carboni and Whitehouse 2001, no.110, pp.221-2); a bottle in the British Museum (inv. no. 1978.10-11.2) (ibid, no.111, pp.223-4); and a stemless cup in the Corning Museum of Glass (inv. no.64.1.32) (ibid, no.112, p.225). All bear similar decorative patterns to the present example suggesting a common timeframe and centre of production.
Continuing chronologically, the seven examples of mosaic or millefiori glass bear witness to the persistence of this technique in Syria and Iraq in the early Islamic period after its flourishing in the Hellenistic and Roman times. The widest and most varied group present are from the Mamluk period, and feature multiple decorative techniques, including lustre, applied gold and enamel. The dark purple fragment which at first appears mysterious, can be attributed to Syria or the Egyptian region, mid-late thirteenth century, following Stefano Carboni's cataloguing of an identical piece in the Al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait (Carboni 2001, pp.348-9, no.94e).
The piece of sandwich glass is the earliest and most rare example in this group. The technique, which was first used by the Romans (circa fourth century AD) and went on to be developed by the Byzantines, involves sandwiching a gold-leaf decorative pattern between two layers of glass. In this particular example, the gold leaf has been applied to the glass on the inside after which a second layer of glass has been blown into the first as can be seen along the edges of the piece.
There are only a handful of surviving examples located in major public collections: a fragmentary cup in the David Collection (inv. no.4/1987) (von Folsach 2001, p.213, no.325; Carboni and Whitehouse 2001, no.110, pp.221-2); a bottle in the British Museum (inv. no. 1978.10-11.2) (ibid, no.111, pp.223-4); and a stemless cup in the Corning Museum of Glass (inv. no.64.1.32) (ibid, no.112, p.225). All bear similar decorative patterns to the present example suggesting a common timeframe and centre of production.
Continuing chronologically, the seven examples of mosaic or millefiori glass bear witness to the persistence of this technique in Syria and Iraq in the early Islamic period after its flourishing in the Hellenistic and Roman times. The widest and most varied group present are from the Mamluk period, and feature multiple decorative techniques, including lustre, applied gold and enamel. The dark purple fragment which at first appears mysterious, can be attributed to Syria or the Egyptian region, mid-late thirteenth century, following Stefano Carboni's cataloguing of an identical piece in the Al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait (Carboni 2001, pp.348-9, no.94e).