A FINE ENGRAVED AND SILVER-INLAID BRASS 'DAMASCUS WARE' DOCUMENT BOX
Damascus, Ottoman Syria, 19th century

A FINE ENGRAVED AND SILVER-INLAID BRASS 'DAMASCUS WARE' DOCUMENT BOX
Damascus, Ottoman Syria, 19th century

Of typical rectangular shape, inspired by 14th-century Mamluk and Ilkhanid models, resting on a flat base cut in small cusped arches on the front and on the two short sides, the removable lid once hinged to the body through a long brass pin, the exterior a tour de force of great engraving mastery and silver inlaying skills, the front decorated with flower-shaped cartouches in the centre filled with scrolling split palmettes, outlined by interlocking silver-inlaid lines creating further cusped and oval cartouches filled with Y-shaped design and knotwork grids, some lobed cartouches containing naskh calligraphy, all against a ground of lush vegetal sprays, the sides and back engraved with typical Mamluk and Hispano-Moresque geometric patterns in the shape of stars and rosettes, outlined in silver inlay and filled with vegetal sprays and intertwined knots, the lid with a large circular cartouche with cusped ends imitating 15th-century Mamluk brass basins' epigraphic medallions usually bearing the names of renowned Sultans, the interior plain, 15.5cm x 17.5cm x 9cm.

Dimensions: 15.5cm x 17.5cm x 9cm