Lot n° 208
Estimation :
2000 - 3000
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 7 808EUR
Mamluk candlestick decorated with griffins... - Lot 208 - Ader
Mamluk candlestick decorated with griffins and coat of arms, Near East, probably Syria, 14th centurySmall
brass candlestick with engraved decoration, formerly inlaid with silver, with a truncated cone base, a broad discoidal shoulder and a cylindrical wick with a truncated cone end. On the body, repeated decoration of pairs of griffins facing each other on either side of a flowery vase, a medallion engraved with three vertical fish separating them. Frieze of ducks in flight separated by rosettes on the shoulder and friezes of alternating triangles on the wick and the base of the body.
Height: 13 cm Traces of
silver inlays.
This candlestick is to be compared with a small candlestick kept in the British Museum in London under the number 1855,1201.6 with a striking resemblance, both from the formal and stylistic or iconographic point of view. The Correr Museum in Venice also has four of the same style (inv. n. Cl. XII, 22, 23, 24 and 25). If their form derives from an Anatolian prototype of the 13th-14th century, these candlesticks are often associated with the category of so-called "Veneto-Saracenic" metals, which can be considered here as works produced in Mamluk land but intended for export, as suggested by the frequent presence of coats of arms in the decoration of the bases.
The medallion decorated with three vertical fishes is probably a coat of arms, probably of a sponsor or owner. According to the codes of heraldry, its engraved treatment makes it a coat of arms of gold (dotted) with three fishes of gules (vertical lines) posed in pale 2 and 1. The fish, symbol of unity with Christ, is frequent in heraldry. It can be found in many coats of arms, especially those of northern families. In our case, it could be the ancient arms of a large family from Artois, the Lords of Tincques (Tanques or Tencques) whose name is the Picard derivation of the tench, a freshwater fish represented then by three, gules and arranged in pale on their golden shield. This great family, of which one of the members, Colard de Tincques, was squire master of the great stable of Charles VI from 1378 to 1397, is attested in Artois from the XIIth century to the beginning of the XVth century, dying out with the death of his nephew Pierre, known as "the Sarrazin" in 1415 at the Battle of Azincourt. The family gave its name to the village of Tincques in the Pas-de-Calais, which has adopted its arms as the municipal coat of arms.
Bibliography :
- P. Bréemersch, J-Y. Léopold, L'Armorial du Pas-de-Calais, tome I, p. 172
- "Les écuries royales sous Charles VI et Charles VII - communication d'Henri Lemoine" in Bulletin philologique et historique (jusqu'à 1715) du comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques, Paris: 1928 et 1929
.
We thank Mr. N. Filatoff, CEA expert for his precious research in heraldry.
A small brass Mamluk candlestick, Near-East, probably Syria, 14th century
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue