A fine early 20^th century Iraqi silver and niello four-piece coffee service, circa 1930 signed Onaisi (Onaisi Al Fayyadh)

Comprising a dallah coffee pot, a milk jug and a sugar bowl with a pair of sugar tongs. The coffee pot of conventional form with a baluster body with a long-curved spout opposite a loop strap handle. The domed hinged lid surmounted by a finial formed from an Ottoman Turkish gold one hundred Kurush coin of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, cut to form the star and crescent, attached to a silver gilt mount, all raised by a shell form thumbpiece. The milk jug with a long spout and D section handle, the sugar bowl of globular form with an everted scalloped rim, raised upon three pad feet. The coffee pot with nielloed scenes of a camel and rider before a river with a boatman in a gufa and palm trees in the distance, the obverse side with two palm trees in the foreground, two dhow sailing boats to the left and three people in a mashoof to the right, all above a geometric band. The lid edged with a band of niello foliage, the junction of the lid with palm trees. The milk jug with the tomb of Ezra and dhow sailing boats, the sugar bowl with a caravan of three camels, a dhow sailing boat, palm trees, two boatmen in a gufa and people in two mashoof. The sugar tongs with palm trees and dhow sailing boats. The milk jug signed علي بَغْدَاد (Baghdad, Onaisi), the coffee pot and sugar bowl signed علي عماره (Omara, Onaisi), the sugar tongs unsigned. (4)

Coffee pot height – 17 cm / 6.75 inches

Milk jug height – 12.6 cm / 5 inches

Sugar bowl diameter – 11 cm / 4.3 inches

Weight – 1095 grams / 35.21 ozt

Provenance: a private Canadian collection, bought Edmonton, Canada in the late 1990’s.

For a cezva coffee pot dated 1928 signed علي بَغْدَاد (Baghdad Onaisi), sold these rooms, 11 June 2021, lot 308 (£2,375 incl. prem).

Onaisi Al Fayyadh is one of the most significant names in all Iraqi nielloware as they were the suppliers to the Hashemite court of Iraq. Pieces are noted signed as Baghdad and Omara, suggesting it is likely that they were supplied by the best niello masters such as the Zahroon family. Many items of Iraqi nielloware are signed with a combination of signatures indicating an established system of collaboration between silver workers, these collaborations are often noted with the Zahroon family such as a dallah coffee pot signed Zahroon and Saleem, sold these rooms, 19 Oct 2022, lot 454 (£875 incl. prem).