A MAGNIFICENT OTTOMAN MOTHER OF PEARL IVORY BOX
Of octagonal form on arched feet with fitted, gabled lid, decorated with mother-of-pearl sections organised in a cintamani design with ivory borders.
This unique box characterised by its octagonal form, luxurious use of materials, mother-of-pearl as well as its design.
Although the box’s octagonal shape can be traced back to Roman and Byzantine times, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem most probably served as the model for the other boxes produced in this shape during the Ottoman period,
with the primary function of containing religious artefacts, for example, the Quran
cabinets in the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum in Istanbul (inv. nos. 2, 3, 5, 10), published in The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, Akbank, Istanbul, 2002, pp. 255-9.
Its design (and subsequent dating) relates to shutters in the Bağdad Köşk in Topkapi palace, built in 1638-9, which feature the same cintamani motifs.

Origin: Turkey

Period: 19th century

Sizes: 45.00 cm. H
17.72 in. H