A MID-19TH CENTURY OTTOMAN SILVER MOUNTED AND VELVET BACKED PRESENTATION MIRROR

An Ottoman silver mounted and velvet backed presentation mirror, Ottoman Turkey, Balkan Provinces and Italy, mid-19th century. Of rectangular shape, mounted on a plain Ottoman silver frame, the back embellished with a Turkish or Italian embroidered rust cut silk velvet panel finely worked in silver metallic threads in a variety of techniques, and seed pearls, the embroidery possibly made by Balkan or Armenian weavers, the centre emblazoned with the initials MP, most probably for Khedive Mohamed Sa’id Pasha, the Wali of Egypt and Sudan (r. 1854 - 1863), above the monogram the Egyptian Khedivate’s crown surmounted by a crescent and a star, held aloft by a cherub to the right, a floral spray to the left, the plain field in-filled with scrolling floral flowerheads and sheaves, each section of the silver frame stamped with later-added spurious tughra marks of Sultan Abdul Aziz (r. 1861 - 1876) and sah assay marks suggesting that the velvet panel could have originally been mounted on a different mirror or object, the edges engraved with a uniform wave pattern. 53cm x 37cmClick here to share: