{"id":194559,"date":"2021-04-01T12:26:59","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T12:26:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/lot\/a-sinhalese-portuguese-casket-617666984\/"},"modified":"2021-04-01T14:57:31","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T14:57:31","slug":"a-sinhalese-portuguese-casket-617666984","status":"publish","type":"lot","link":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/en\/lot\/a-sinhalese-portuguese-casket-617666984\/","title":{"rendered":"[Auction 104] Lot 509 – A Sinhalese-Portuguese casket"},"content":{"rendered":"Tortoiseshell, ivory and silver coated exotic wood carcass\r\nCarved decoration of foliage scrolls simulating vines and tendrils\r\nCrimson silk velvet lining in the European taste\r\ninner lid coated in fine tortoiseshell plates\r\nRepousse and chiselled silver hardware\r\nCeylon, mid-17th century\r\nUnmarked in compliance with Decree-Law 120\/2017, art. 2\u00ba, n\u00ba.2 C","protected":false},"featured_media":196580,"template":"","categories":[66],"class_list":["post-194559","lot","type-lot","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-objects"],"acf":{"auction_number":"104","number":"509","ref":"509","letter":"0","hammer_value":"0","show_hammer_value":true,"estimation_min":"18000","estimation_max":"25000","price_on_request":false,"author":false,"auction":{"ID":188041,"post_author":"44","post_date":"2020-11-12 14:36:43","post_date_gmt":"2020-11-12 14:36:43","post_content":"","post_title":"Auction 104 - Antiques & Works of Art, Silver & Jewellery","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"auction-104-antiques-works-of-art","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2021-04-16 20:55:56","post_modified_gmt":"2021-04-16 20:55:56","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/?post_type=auction&p=188041","menu_order":0,"post_type":"auction","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},"name":"A Sinhalese-Portuguese casket","dimensions":"11x32x14 cm","description":"Tortoiseshell, ivory and silver coated exotic wood carcass
\r\nCarved decoration of foliage scrolls simulating vines and tendrils
\r\nCrimson silk velvet lining in the European taste
\r\ninner lid coated in fine tortoiseshell plates
\r\nRepousse and chiselled silver hardware
\r\nCeylon, mid-17th century
\r\nUnmarked in compliance with Decree-Law 120\/2017, art. 2\u00ba, n\u00ba.2 C","additional_info":[{"title":"Additional Information","text":"Published in AA.VV. S\u00e3o Roque Antiguidades, 2007, pp.244-245
\r\nLiterature:
\r\nAlan Chong et al., Devotion and Desire. Cross-cultural art in Asia. New Acquisitions, Singapore, Asian Civilisations Museum, 2013.
\r\nAlan Chong, Sri Lankan Ivories for the Dutch and Portuguese, in Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art, 5.2, 2013.
\r\n
\r\nMost likely designed as a jewellery safe box, this object is an obvious statement of Sinhalese artistry and creativity in adapting ancestral craft techniques for the production of typically European typologies, that were introduced to Ceylon, in the early 1500s, by the Portuguese.
\r\nLittle is known about the exact location where this box was crafted but, most certainly, it originates from one of the major trading outposts along the coast of Ceylon, perhaps Colombo, Galle or Matara. It is important to consider that these typologies, as well as other luxury items, were produced for wealthy European clienteles, such as the Dutch, to whom Ceylonese commissions are often associated.
\r\nThis box sophisticated decoration, meticulously carved onto the ivory plaques, adopts a complex pattern of vines and tendrils interspersed with small birds. This type of composition is analogous to the one seen on the borders and drawer fronts of a small group of ivory writing boxes and vent\u00f3s depicting Adam and Eve.
\r\nAccording to Brohier and Jan Veenendall \u2013 one of the authors who studied this particular production \u2013 this type of anti-clockwise foliage scroll is known as \u201crecalcitrant spiral motif\u201d, a stalk or stem element associated to the \u201cuniversal seed\u201d, and its adoption in this specific group of Adam and Eve pieces would complement the meaning of that Genesis figuration, by conveying nature\u2019s bloom through the Creation of mankind.
\r\nThe box is lined in crimson silk velvet, in the European taste, while the inner lid is veneered in fine mottled tortoiseshell plaques. The repousse and chiselled decorative silver mounts include the foliage scroll ornamented corner pieces, the hook latch and the floral chiselled hinges, perhaps of European manufacture. The exceptional ivory carving fineness, as well as the box proportions, turn this object into a major and unique example of this Sinhalese export production.
\r\n
\r\n
\r\nLiterature:
\r\nAlan Chong et al., Devotion and Desire. Cross-cultural art in Asia. New Acquisitions, Singapore, Asian Civilisations Museum, 2013.
\r\nAlan Chong, Sri Lankan Ivories for the Dutch and Portuguese, in Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art, 5.2, 2013.
\r\nAnanda K. Coomaraswamy, Mediaeval Sinhalese Art, New Dheli, Munsharam Manoharlal, 1956.
\r\nJAFFER, Amin, Luxury Goods from India. The Art of the Cabinet-Maker, London, V&A Publications, 2002.
\r\nMaria da Conceic\u0327a\u0303o Borges de Sousa, et al., Vita Christi. Marfins Luso-Orientais (cat.), Lisboa, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, 2013.
\r\nJayadeva Tilakasiri, Ivory Carving of Sri Lanka, in Arts of Asia, 4, 1974, pp. 42\u201346.
\r\n
\r\nAnanda K. Coomaraswamy, Mediaeval Sinhalese Art, New Dheli, Munsharam Manoharlal, 1956.
\r\nJAFFER, Amin, Luxury Goods from India. The Art of the Cabinet-Maker, London, V&A Publications, 2002.
\r\nAnnemarie Jordan Gschwend e Johannes Beltz, Elfenbeine aus Ceylon: Luxusg\u00fcter f\u00fcr Katharina von Habsburg (1507\u201378) (cat.), Z\u00fcrich, Museum Rietberg, 2010.
\r\nMaria da Concei\u00e7\u00e3o Borges de Sousa, et al., Vita Christi. Marfins Luso-Orientais (cat.), Lisboa, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, 2013.
\r\nJayadeva Tilakasiri, Ivory Carving of Sri Lanka, in Arts of Asia, 4, 1974, pp. 42\u201346."}],"tags":"Objects","auction_session":"2","gallery":[{"image":{"ID":196580,"id":196580,"title":"104_509","filename":"509.jpg","filesize":8151154,"url":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509.jpg","link":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/en\/lot\/caixa-cingalo-portuguesa-195531435\/104_509\/","alt":"","author":"44","description":"","caption":"","name":"104_509","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":194558,"date":"2021-04-01 15:54:10","modified":"2021-04-01 15:54:12","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":5516,"height":3659,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":199,"medium_large":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":509,"large":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":679,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1019,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1359,"v_medium":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509-640x425.jpg","v_medium-width":640,"v_medium-height":425,"gform-image-choice-sm":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509.jpg","gform-image-choice-sm-width":300,"gform-image-choice-sm-height":199,"gform-image-choice-md":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509.jpg","gform-image-choice-md-width":400,"gform-image-choice-md-height":265,"gform-image-choice-lg":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509.jpg","gform-image-choice-lg-width":600,"gform-image-choice-lg-height":398}},"is_video":false,"video_source":"","video_id":"","use_video_thumbnail":true},{"image":{"ID":196582,"id":196582,"title":"104_509a","filename":"509a.jpg","filesize":6807062,"url":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509a.jpg","link":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/en\/lot\/caixa-cingalo-portuguesa-195531435\/104_509a\/","alt":"","author":"44","description":"","caption":"","name":"104_509a","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":194558,"date":"2021-04-01 15:54:14","modified":"2021-04-01 15:54:15","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":5616,"height":3744,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509a-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509a.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509a.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509a.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509a.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509a.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"v_medium":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509a-640x427.jpg","v_medium-width":640,"v_medium-height":427,"gform-image-choice-sm":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509a.jpg","gform-image-choice-sm-width":300,"gform-image-choice-sm-height":200,"gform-image-choice-md":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509a.jpg","gform-image-choice-md-width":400,"gform-image-choice-md-height":267,"gform-image-choice-lg":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/509a.jpg","gform-image-choice-lg-width":600,"gform-image-choice-lg-height":400}},"is_video":false,"video_source":"","video_id":"","use_video_thumbnail":true}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lot\/194559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lot"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/lot"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veritas.art\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}