Amsterdam - More Asian Art, Objects and Furniture

An exceptional Indo-Portuguese colonial mother-of-pearl veneered casket with silver mounts India, Gujarat, 2nd half of the 16th century, the silver mounts Goa or probably Lisbon Measures: H. 16 x W. 24.6 x D. 16.1 cm An exceptional Gujarati casket with a rectangular box and truncated pyramidal lid (with slopes on each side and a flat top) made from exotic wood, probably teak (Tectona grandis), covered with a mother-of-pearl mosaic. The tesserae, cut from the shell of the green turban sea snail (Turbo marmoratus, a marine gastropod) in the shape of fish scales, are pinned to the wooden structure with silver ball-headed nails. The casket is set on bracket feet on the corners. The masterfully engraved decoration of the silver mounts follows the most refined and erudite Mannerist repertoire of rinceaux and ferroneries dating from the mid-16th century. The high quality and refinement of the silver mounts and, likewise, the silver nails that replaced the original brass pins used to hold the mother-of-pearl tesserae in place indicate the work of a silversmith probably working in Lisbon in the second half of the 16th century. The Indian origin of this production, namely from Cambay (Khambhat) and Surat in the present state of Gujarat in north India, is, as for the last three decades, consensual and fully demonstrated, not only by documentary and literary evidence - such as descriptions, travelogues and contemporary archival documentation - but also by the survival in situ of 16th-century wooden structures covered in mother-of-pearl tesserae. A fine example is a canopy decorating the tomb (dargah) of the Sufi saint, Sheik Salim Chisti (1478-1572) in Fatehpur Sikri in Agra district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, north India. This is an artistic production, geometric in character and Islamic in nature, where usually the mother-of-pearl tesserae form complex designs of fish scales or, similar to the dishes also made using the same technique, with the thin brass sheets and pins, stylized lotus flowers. The truncated pyramidal shape corresponds, like their contemporary tortoiseshell counterparts also made in Gujarat, to a piece of furniture used in the Indian subcontinent within the Islamic world prior to the arrival of the first Portuguese. This shape, in fact, is very old and peculiar to East-Asian caskets, chests or boxes used to contain and protect Buddhist texts, the sutras. A similar chest is the famous and large reliquary chest from Lisbon cathedral that once contained the relics of the city's patron saint, Saint Vincent. Both match in shape, having the same kind of socle or pedestal and bracket feet, and in their engraved silver mountings, featuring the same type of refined, erudite decoration. Their differences lie in the silver borders that frame the entire length of the edges of the chest (both the box and the lid), pinned with silver nails, and on the lock plate, shaped like a coat of arms in the Lisbon example. Given the exceptional dimensions of the reliquary casket...

AN INDIAN ROSEWOOD AND EBONY BRASS MOUNTED BOX FOR THE ISLAMIC MARKET Malabar Coast, 18th century With a large drawer with several compartm...

A fine Japanese export black and gold lacquered pictorial-style dish Nagasaki or Kyoto, 1680-1720 The dish with wide flat rim of Keaki wood (Zelkova species) in black lacquer with...

A splendid Dutch-colonial Sinhalese ebony two-door cabinet with silver mounts Sri Lanka, Kandy, 2nd half 17th century, the mounts later The cabinet with a central drawer with hidde...

A large Indian Colonial ‘Vizagapatam’ pen-engraved bone inlaid ebony box Masulipatnam or Vizagapatam, 2nd half 18th century H. 10.8 x W. 47 x D. 34 cm ...

A rare complete Indian Sadeli inlaid work and writing box British India, Bombay (present-day Mumbai), early 19th century Micromosaic inlaid wood, with fitted bone interior and tools, and silver fittings. H. 12.6 x W. 43.2 x D. 28.5 cm Note: Workboxes, portable writing desks...

A fine Indo-Portuguese inlaid teak wood figure of Nagini India, Goa, 17th century Measure: H. 55 cm (with stand, and with ring for wall hanging) The sculpture can be perceived as such but probably is one of four legs of an Indo-Portuguese contador...

A charming carved giltwood Chinese export mirror frame with a watch-stand Canton, Qing Dynasty, early 19th century H. 65 x W. 34.5 cm At the top of the frame, two angels are suppo...

Fabulous Japanese earthenware Satsuma Belt Buckle Bird decoration. Meiji period, 19th c Lovely piece. Marked at the underside. Additional information: ...

Sharing this lovely and unusual Chinese porcelain incense burner from the late Ming period, Tianqi period most probably. Jingdezhen made for ...

This finely carved pencil beaker. The material is bamboo and the carvings showa group of people in leisure next and in a Pagode. Additional information: Material: Wood / Bamboo Regi...

Lovely Napkin Rings with dragon scene.Lovely small dish. Additional information: Material: Bronze Enamel Period: ca 1900 Condition: Overall Condit...

An interesting an nicely made pair. Lovely decoration. Additional information: Material: Porcelain & Pottery Type: Pencil Beaker Region of Origin: China Period: 19th century, ca 190...

Top Antique Bronze / Copper Cloisonné Burner Inscense Koro China, 19th Century Nice Quality with superb decoration. Additional information: Material: Bronze / Copper Type: Vase Re...