Hemispherical Lid
1500-1600 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
This is part of a hand-held brass hand warmer. A complete hand warmer contained a small brass cup that held a small quantity of smouldering charcoal. The cup was suspended within a set of gimbals which kept it level and prevented the burning charcoal from touching the surface of the container. Sometimes incense was added to the charcoal to perfume the air.
This brass piece was made in Venice. It has the elaborate decoration associated with the city that was influenced by trade with the Muslim empires that bordered the Mediterranean. Unlike Northern European brass work, Venetian brass wares were almost always engraved and often inlaid with silver wire (now missing on this piece).
The decoration on Venetian brass wares was extensive, often covering the entire surface of an object. It sometimes featured the arabesque pattern, based on a stylised plant with a winding stem. Contemporary Italian artists studied and copied the arabesque and by about the 1550s it was beginning to influence designers and craftsmen all over Europe.
This brass piece was made in Venice. It has the elaborate decoration associated with the city that was influenced by trade with the Muslim empires that bordered the Mediterranean. Unlike Northern European brass work, Venetian brass wares were almost always engraved and often inlaid with silver wire (now missing on this piece).
The decoration on Venetian brass wares was extensive, often covering the entire surface of an object. It sometimes featured the arabesque pattern, based on a stylised plant with a winding stem. Contemporary Italian artists studied and copied the arabesque and by about the 1550s it was beginning to influence designers and craftsmen all over Europe.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Brass, formerly inlaid with silver |
Brief description | Middle East, Metalwork. Hemispherical lid, possibly half of a handwarmer, brass with pierced holes, engraved decoration in horizontal registers of pseudo-Arabic plaited script, trefoil scrollwork and cruciforms, possibly Egypt or Syria, 1500-1600 |
Physical description | Part of a hand warmer, hemispherical, decorated with arabesques partly within circular and oval panels. |
Dimensions |
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Style | |
Credit line | Given by Dr W L Hildburgh, FSA |
Subject depicted | |
Summary | This is part of a hand-held brass hand warmer. A complete hand warmer contained a small brass cup that held a small quantity of smouldering charcoal. The cup was suspended within a set of gimbals which kept it level and prevented the burning charcoal from touching the surface of the container. Sometimes incense was added to the charcoal to perfume the air. This brass piece was made in Venice. It has the elaborate decoration associated with the city that was influenced by trade with the Muslim empires that bordered the Mediterranean. Unlike Northern European brass work, Venetian brass wares were almost always engraved and often inlaid with silver wire (now missing on this piece). The decoration on Venetian brass wares was extensive, often covering the entire surface of an object. It sometimes featured the arabesque pattern, based on a stylised plant with a winding stem. Contemporary Italian artists studied and copied the arabesque and by about the 1550s it was beginning to influence designers and craftsmen all over Europe. |
Bibliographic reference | Sylvia Auld, Renaissance Venice, Islam and Mahmud the Kurd. A metalworking enigma, 2004, no.1.32, p.131. |
Collection | |
Accession number | M.14-1946 |
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Record created | March 10, 2003 |
Record URL |
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