A 'Veneto-Saracenic' silver-inlaid bronze bucket bearing the coat of arms of two noble families

Venice, 16th Century

Footnotes

The present lot is from a group of metalwork whose origin has been the subject of much scholarly debate, and which was previously categorised as 'Veneto-Saracenic'. This label derived from the 19th Century belief that these objects were created by Muslim craftsmen working in Venice, a notion that was first questioned in the 1970s, especially because the Venetian guild system would not have tolerated foreign craftsmen. Recent scholarship indicates that many were in fact exported to Europe from Egypt and Syria and subsequently imitated by local craftsmen. The Mamluks (1250-1517) became the middlemen in the spice trade and transportation of goods between Europe and South and Southeast Asia, with Venice becoming their main European trading partner. As such, a wide variety of goods and objects flowed between the two areas, influencing Venetian tastes, and resulting in both the production of metalwork specifically for export for the Venetian market as well as the development of Mamluk-inspired metalwork created in Europe.

Sylvia Auld divides the extant 'Veneto-Saracenic' examples into three sub-categories: the first group (Group A) being typically Mamluk and made in either Egypt or Syria; the second group (Group B) relating to Mahmud al-Kurdi and his circle; and the third group (Group C), to which the present lot belongs, made in Europe, probably Italy, emulating Levantine originals (see Sylvia Auld, Renaissance Venice, Islam and Mahmud the Kurd: A Metalworking Enigma, London, 2004, p. 8). The influence of export wares on the present lot is evident when compared to a bucket signed by Mahmud al-Kurdi sold at Christie's, Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds Including Oriental Rugs and Carpets, 1 April 2021, lot 10. Both are comprised of a deep rounded form on a flat foot and feature very similar zoomorphic handles. A further comparable example is in the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg (inv. no. 1878 739).

Though probably inspired by objects of this kind, the present lot is more sinuous in its design, incorporating scrolling classicised arabesques as found in pieces assigned to Auld's Group C. A salver in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. no. 258-1894) features comparable arabesques and is described by Auld as 'a prime example of a Western craftsman working in 'Islamic' mode' (Auld, p. 236, no. 5.28). A candlestick, also in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. no. 553-1865), features similar strapwork over a foliate ground, and is assigned by Auld to Group C (Auld, p. 2621, no. 6.26).

The present lot also bears two crests belonging to noble families. The first, a shield depicting three dolphins, probably belongs to the Dolfin family, a prominent noble family of Venice, and one of the twelve original noble lineages of the Republic, or 'apostolic families'. The second, a shield bearing a heraldic stripe, may belong to the Giustiniani or Sagredo family. A dish featuring the coats of arms of the Venier and Molin families, illustrated in Auld (p. 8, pl. 1), appears to mark a marriage between the two families. The presence of crests on our bucket, combined with portraits, indicates that it is possible the bucket was made in celebration of a marriage between members of the Dolfin and Giustiniani or Sagredo families.