A COPPER ALLOY CERAMIC MOULD Western Anatolia, Ottoman Provinces,...
A COPPER ALLOY CERAMIC MOULD Western Anatolia, Ottoman Provinces, dated 1777 Of rectangular shape, engraved with the traditional Christian iconography of St. George (Kevork in Armenian) stabbing the dragon, the saint portrayed with his full armoury and a halo, the top of the composition framed by a polylobed festoon filled with vegetal motifs typical of Armenian illuminated manuscripts, in the background a mountain and an undeciphered inscription in Armenian characters, the date 1777 to the left hand-side of the scene, with a fitting to the back, 16.5cm x 11cm. The motif on this mould is a very common one, dear to the Armenian community living in the Western Anatolian territories. In the 18th century, the Armenian potters at Kutahya flourished, producing a wide range of vessels as well as pictorial and decorative tiles for the Armenian Cathedral of St. James in Jerusalem, dating to the first half of 18th century. Several of these tiles depict the motif of St. George slaying the dragon and one in particular is dated 1168 AH (1718) (John Carswell, Kütahya Tiles and Pottery from the Armenian Cathedral of St. James, Jerusalem, vol.I, Oxford, 1972, tile CI, pl.10). It is likely to believe that as the potters' skill increased, they started moving from flat to three-dimensional figural representations, which in order to accomplish would have needed a mould such as ours. An example of a Kutahya flask with moulded panels depicting St. George was successfully sold at Christie's London, 25 April 2013, lot 254.
Estimated at £1,200 - £1,400
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
A COPPER ALLOY CERAMIC MOULD Western Anatolia, Ottoman Provinces, dated 1777 Of rectangular shape, engraved with the traditional Christian iconography of St. George (Kevork in Armenian) stabbing the dragon, the saint portrayed with his full armoury and a halo, the top of the composition framed by a polylobed festoon filled with vegetal motifs typical of Armenian illuminated manuscripts, in the background a mountain and an undeciphered inscription in Armenian characters, the date 1777 to the left hand-side of the scene, with a fitting to the back, 16.5cm x 11cm. The motif on this mould is a very common one, dear to the Armenian community living in the Western Anatolian territories. In the 18th century, the Armenian potters at Kutahya flourished, producing a wide range of vessels as well as pictorial and decorative tiles for the Armenian Cathedral of St. James in Jerusalem, dating to the first half of 18th century. Several of these tiles depict the motif of St. George slaying the dragon and one in particular is dated 1168 AH (1718) (John Carswell, Kütahya Tiles and Pottery from the Armenian Cathedral of St. James, Jerusalem, vol.I, Oxford, 1972, tile CI, pl.10). It is likely to believe that as the potters' skill increased, they started moving from flat to three-dimensional figural representations, which in order to accomplish would have needed a mould such as ours. An example of a Kutahya flask with moulded panels depicting St. George was successfully sold at Christie's London, 25 April 2013, lot 254.
Estimated at £1,200 - £1,400
