Estimate

45.000 - 60.000

Session 4

14 December 2021

Hammer Price

Description

Ivory and gilt silver
Profuse low-relief carved decoration with figures, mythological creatures and foliage scrolls
Lid finial and base with carved lotus flower motifs
Floral reliefs decoration to lock
Sri-Lanka, possibly Kandy, 16th / 17th century
Similar piece sold at Sotheby’s, in 2017, Sale L17223, lot 179

Height: 11 cm

Category

Objects

Additional note

By analyzing this box comparatively to other similar extant examples, it is possible to assume that it corresponds to an acquisition made by a Dutch customer via the Dutch East India Company (VOC), a major trading corporation founded in 1602 in Holland. According to research carried out by Amin Jaffer we are confronted by a typically Ceylonese object, both in its shape and decoration, conceived and meticulously carved by a highly specialized local ivory crafter (Jaffer 2002, pp. 52–53). In early Ceylonese society ivory carvers ranked quite highly, raising within the professional hierarchy in identical fashion to goldsmiths, silversmiths or painters. A multifaceted group, carvers belonged to a social elite known as attakatayatkarayo. The exceptional quality of execution of this piece reflects the expertise of one of these specialized artists. The silver gilt decorative hardware elements, hinged to front and back, are ornamented with distinct stylized flowers that replicate those from Sri-Lanka’s native trees – Araliya, whose fragrant flowers are left at temples as offerings to the Buddha. On the box dome shaped tilting top a finely carved lotus flower bud. Boxes identical to the present example were used in Ceylonese culture for performing important religious rituals. For its Dutch owner however, it was most certainly no other than an expensive luxury object imported from the East, perhaps destined to safe keeping jewelry or other precious rarities that were proudly displayed in fashionable European Kunstkammer or Cabinets of Curiosities (Swan 2021, pp.91-97). Carved out of a single section of an elephant tusk, both the case and the lid decorative compositions, of dense foliage motifs, vines, arabesques and mythical deities, are characteristic of the Kandy ivory carving workshops. The base of the box is framed by a narrow peripheral frieze. In another contemporary box, an identical frieze features carved lotus flower motifs – associated to the Buddha and a symbol of purity and of awakening to universal and spiritual life. Amongst these detailed carvings it is possible to discern evidence of the original black lacquer decorative pigment characteristic of Buddhist ritual objects. That type of decoration is particularly recognizable in contemporary Ceylonese handheld fan handles, which were produced for exclusive use by Buddhist monks, fact that reinforces the assumption that this box was originally produced for ritual religious purposes. In the section where the hardware joins the ivory carcass, amongst foliage, two dog-lions – rajasimha, the ancestral Ceylonese mythology lions associated with Majesty and power and symbols of Ceylon kings. Close by, a naked demi figure, the traditional Narilatha-wela, symbol of beauty and graciousness. Identical motifs are repeated on the opposite side. The box cover, superbly carved, features a complex juxtaposition of stylized lotus petals and the goddess Rati – Hindu Goddess of love, passion and lust – surrounded by three of her five companions, two of which, with interlaced legs, are her vehicle. A known group of three other extant boxes can be comparable to the present example in terms of their quality, style, execution and iconography. Two belonging to the Museum für Asiatische Kunst in Berlin, one of them recorded in the 1694 Cabinet of Curiosities inventory of Frederik Wilhelm (1620-1688), Elector of Brandenburg, and another from the collection of Commander Sir Robert Micklem CBE (1891-1952) which was sold at Sotheby’s in October 2017

This text was published with the permission of Prof. Dr. Annemarie Jordan, whom we thank for her collaboration.


Literature: Coomaraswamy, A. K. – Medieval Sinhalese Art: being a monograph an medieval Sinhalese arts and crafts, mainly as surviving in the eighteenth century, with an account of the structure of society and the status of the craftsmen, New York, Pantheon Books 1956, p.55. Jaffer, A. – Luxury Goods from India: The art of the Indian Cabinet-Maker, Londres, V&APublications, 2002, pp.52-53. Jordan Gschwend, A & Beltz, J. -Elfenbeine aus Ceylon, Museum Rietberg, 2010, p.79 Swan C. r+Rarities of these lands. Art, Trade and Diplomacy in the Dutch Republic, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2021, pp.91-97. Topsfield, a., Ed. – In the Realm of Gods and Kings: Arts of India, Philip Wilson Publishers, Londres, 2004.