Page 168 - ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND INDIAN WORLDS Carpets, Ceramics Objects, Christie's London Oct..27, 2022

145
A GILT-COPPER (TOMBAK) SHIELD
(KALKAN)
OTTOMAN TURKEY, LATE 16TH OR EARLY
17TH CENTURY
The domed circular body with a raised central boss
and with pounced decoration in three bands, the
inner band with row of palmettes, the middle band
alternating with arabesque medallions containing
split-palmettes and stylised cypress tree motifs,
the outer band with alternating rosettes, ten rivets
with rosette-shaped heads fixing to iron washers
144 with attached loops on the inside, the outer rim
pierced
22æin. (57cm.) diam.
144
£80,000-120,000 US$92,000-140,000
A DAGGER (JAMBIYYA) €92,000-140,000
OTTOMAN TURKEY, SECOND HALF OF THE
17TH CENTURY
PROVENANCE:
The curved double-edged watered steel blade By repute, taken at the second Siege of Vienna
pierced by four rectangular and one circular (1683)
sections, three filled with coral beads, cross- Pidhirsti Castle, Poland, by repute
hatched at the forte with a red number '70' painted London market by 2012
on one side and '3819' inscribed on the other, the
faceted hardwood grip of typical waisted form
Tombak was prized by the Ottomans and was
143 10q (26.5cm.) long
widely used to embellish objects including parade
£1,500-2,000 US$1,800-2,300 arms and armour. Whilst visually impressive and
€1,800-2,300 luxurious the softness of the material makes it
143 completely impractical for battlefield armour and
PROVENANCE: a shield (kalkan) such as this and this would have
A JADE-HILTED DAGGER (KARD) WITH London trade by 2015 been purely ceremonial, probably reserved for a
SILVER-GILT SHEATH high ranking official or member of the Sultan’s
OTTOMAN EMPIRE, LATE 18TH OR EARLY Sixteenth and seventeenth century Ottoman
19TH CENTURY guard. Other than shields, helmets, body and 145
daggers are characterised by their small size, horse armour worked in tombak are known. When
The single-edged watered steel blade of tapering faceted handles, and gently curving blades. fully caparisoned the golden Ottoman army would
form, the dark jade hilt with gilt metal bolster, with These were frequently picked up on battlefields
accompanying silver-gilt scabbard have been a truly impressive sight.
14qin. (36.8cm.) long following clashes between Ottoman and
European armies in the seventeenth and The present shield is reputed to have come from
£6,000-8,000 US$6,900-9,100 eighteenth centuries, and the inlaid numbers on Pidhirsti Caslte in Poland as part of the spoils
€6,900-9,100 the blade are likely to date from when the blade taken from the retreating Ottoman army following combined European forces at the Battle of Vienna shield entered the Pidhirsti Castle Collection. (S.C.Spiteri, Armoury of the Knights: a study of
was stored in a museum or armoury. A similar the Battle of Vienna in 1683. The battle marked and had at a time stayed in the castle. The castle Our shield belongs to a group of distinctive the Palace Armoury, its collection, and the military
Often attributed to the Ottoman Balkans, this
dagger, also with the 'tears of Allah' coral beads a crucial turning point and is considered to be was later sold and then inherited by Wacław form with raised ribs and pointillé decoration storehouses of the Hospitaller Knights of the Order
is an example of an Ottoman kard (A. C. Tirri,
in the blade, can be found in the collection of the the moment the tide of Ottoman expansion Rzewuski, a noted military commander who including cypress trees and palmette of St John, Malta, 2003, p.317, No.O4). For similar
Islamic Weapons: from Maghrib to Moghul, 2003).
Furusiyya art foundation (Bashir Mohamed, The into Europe was broken with the reconquest of assembled a great collection of arms and armour, cartouches. Suggesting the work of a common shields sold at auction see Sotheby’s Amsterdam,
A sword with a very similar hilt was sold in these
Arts of the Muslim Knight, Milan, 2007, p. 167). A Hungary, Transylvania and some of the Balkans specifically in relation to King Jan III Sobieski and workshop, other examples are in the Badisches 19 December 2006, lot 413, Sotheby’s London, 8
Rooms, 12 October 2004, lot 54. Another dagger
further example with an ornate scabbard sold in soon following. Pidhirsti Castle had been the the Battle of Vienna. Buying a great number of Landesmuseum Karlsruhe (Inv.D16), the Askeri October 2008, lot 235 and Olympia Auctions, 29
with a similar hilt was sold at Bonham’s, London,
these Rooms, Anon. sale, 10 October 2000, lot home of Jakub Sobieski, son of the Polish King Ottoman pieces taken from the Battle of Vienna Museum in Istanbul (no.A.171 and no.A.181), and June 2011, lot 120.
23 October 2017, lot 146.
212. Jan III Sobieski (r.1674-96) who had led the in 1788, it is probably at this time that the present the armoury of the Knights of St. John, Malta
166 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty 167
fee are also payable if the lot has a tax or λ symbol. Check Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of this catalogue.