Large brass tray decorated with the Judgment of Solomon, Mid - Lot 133

Large brass tray decorated with the Judgment of Solomon, Middle East, 19th century Circular tray with engraved decoration depicting the Judgment of Solomon: the king of Israel, crowned and seated on a throne, orders a guard to execute the child he is holding by one foot to settle a dispute between two women who are fighting over the child's maternity. All around, an assembly of priests, two of them holding banners describing the subject of the scene in Arabic, still captioned in the lower part by a large epigraphic cartouche: "Solomon's 1st judgment and his triumph in Justice". Diameter: 71.5 cm Some soiling. The scene refers to the biblical episode recounted in the First Book of Kings (3, 16-28) and shows the wisdom of King Solomon who succeeds in revealing the true identity of the mother of the child about to be sacrificed, who prefers to let him live rather than see him cut in two.