Not currently on display at the V&A

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.


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
  • Height: 6cm
  • Diameter: 12.5cm
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

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdMarch 10, 2003
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest