A BETHLEHEM MOTHER-OF-PEARL SHELL CARVING DEPICTING THE ADORATION OF THE...
A BETHLEHEM MOTHER-OF-PEARL SHELL CARVING DEPICTING THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI
Bethlehem, Palestine, c. 19th century
Carved shell depicting the Virgin Mary with Saint Joseph and the infant Jesus, worshipped by the Three Magi, the kings who came from the East bearing their tributes within the central oval reserve, the lower edge with vegetal pierced decoration.
15.5cm high
Such carvings would have been produced for pilgrims visiting the Holy Land, the tradition of shell carving was introduced in Bethlehem by the Franciscans in the 16th century, as evidenced by the models of Holy Land shrines in Palestine that they commissioned from local artisans and exported to Catholic Europe—particularly Venice—via Acre by the mid-17th century. Bethlehem subsequently became the manufacturing center of a global industry in religious souvenirs, extensively traded by Bethlehem merchants throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
Literature:
Norris, J., Exporting the Holy Land: Artisans and Merchant Migrants in Ottoman-Era Bethlehem, in Mashriq & Mahjar 1, no. 2, 2013.
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
A BETHLEHEM MOTHER-OF-PEARL SHELL CARVING DEPICTING THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI
Bethlehem, Palestine, c. 19th century
Carved shell depicting the Virgin Mary with Saint Joseph and the infant Jesus, worshipped by the Three Magi, the kings who came from the East bearing their tributes within the central oval reserve, the lower edge with vegetal pierced decoration.
15.5cm high
Such carvings would have been produced for pilgrims visiting the Holy Land, the tradition of shell carving was introduced in Bethlehem by the Franciscans in the 16th century, as evidenced by the models of Holy Land shrines in Palestine that they commissioned from local artisans and exported to Catholic Europe—particularly Venice—via Acre by the mid-17th century. Bethlehem subsequently became the manufacturing center of a global industry in religious souvenirs, extensively traded by Bethlehem merchants throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
Literature:
Norris, J., Exporting the Holy Land: Artisans and Merchant Migrants in Ottoman-Era Bethlehem, in Mashriq & Mahjar 1, no. 2, 2013.
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
