362
cabral moncada leilões 169
of a coat of arms flanked by four large hemispheric silver nails
and an extraordinary key decorated with pierced, openwork floral
elements.
The quality of the carving, as may be seen from the micrographs (10x)
is similar to the best examples produced for the Portuguese market
(until 1658), namely to the veneered pieces (with a wooden structure
covered by tortoiseshell plaques, gilded copper or even mirror mica),
covered with thin pierced, openwork ivory carved plaques - see the
small table cabinet with doors from the Ashmolean Museum of Art,
Oxford (inv. EA1976.6) dated to the first half of the seventeenth
century (Veenendaal 2014, pp. 38-39; see Jordan Gschwend and Beltz,
2010, cat. 51-52, pp. 120-121). The main difference lies
in the material used, given that the present box, in its opulence, uses
thick, large ivory plaques similar in construction and material to the
early caskets made in Kotte in the mid-sixteenth century until the
demise of the ‘imperial’ capital (Ferrão 1990; Jaffer and Schwabe 1999;
and Jordan Gschwend and Beltz, 2010). One of the best examples
of this veneered, openwork pieces of furniture, similar to the present
one and following the same shape (25.2 cm in length), decoration
(although less refined) and identical silver mountings, is dated to the
second half of the seventeenth century and is in the Rijksmuseum,
Amsterdam, inv. BK-1971-30 (Veenendaal 2014, p. 38). The superior
quality of the carving as seen in the present box contrasts with similar
ivory and ebony examples dated to the second half of the seventeenth
century and commissioned by the Dutch. Although similar in their floral
decoration, they are distinct in their execution and the scale of the
motifs. These are mainly caskets and cabinets (Veenendaal 2014, p. 31),
but also pipe cases, such as the ones in the Victoria and Albert
Museum, London, inv. W147-1928, and the Asian Civilisations Museum,
Singapore (Veenendaal 2014, p. 47; Jaffer 2002, cat. 18, pp. 50-51;
and Chong 2013, cat. 143, p. 131). Furthermore, the silver mountings
of the present box, as may be seen from the chasing tools used (see
micrographs), are very similar to the ones decorating a small, ivory
carved Ceylonese primer flask dated to the mid-seventeenth century
(Dias 2004, cat. 69, pp. 168-169; see also Crespo 2014, cat. 111,
pp. 172-173). Its large dimensions, the artistic level of the ivory
carving and silver mountings, and above all the fact that it was built
using very thick African ivory panels, make the present box a unicum
for its rarity and a tour de force on account of the technical and
artistic quality that distinguishes it from all other know pieces
of this rare production.
Note: Rare and significant large box, rectangular in shape,
with a flat lid, slightly projecting (with silver chains on the interior),
projecting socle and ball-shaped turned feet connected to the underside
by two straight bevelled rulers. The box is formed out of four dovetailed
thick ivory panels - with ca. 1 cm in thickness -, the front and back
measuring 29.7 x 9.4 cm, joined by a secret mitred dovetail, also known
as full-blind dovetail joint (the outer edges meet at a 45-degree angle
while hiding the dovetails internally within the joint).
Two exceptionally large panels make up the lid (each with 30.7 cm
in length) and three form the base, assembled with half lap splice
joints, held in place with ivory pins. Although slightly later, the present
turned feet would have been similar to the original ones. Their presence
indicates the likely original function of this imposing, sumptuous piece
of furniture: it is a box intended to be placed on a dais, probably used
to store the precious belongings of a noble lady, objects
and materials used for needlework and embroidery,
such as valuable silk yarn balls and gold and silver thread.
All sides except for the base are profusely carved in low-relief with large
vine scrolls and stylised lotus buds known in Chinese art, which deeply
influenced Ceylonese art, as baoxiang. These vine scrolls are
symmetrically arranged: two on the front, back and sides, in a panel
framed by a simple beaded frieze; and four on the lid, in a quadripartite
panel framed by a thin beaded frieze and a larger quatrefoil band
typical of Ceylonese decoration. Regardless of the quintessential
Ceylonese character of the baoxiang floral motif (Coomaraswamy
1956), the sculptural finesse of the carving is clearly inspired in
European prints and similar to the botanical naturalism present in the
best Mughal low-relief stone carving dating to the reigns of Jahangir
(r. 1605-1627) and Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658) - see Michell 2007.
The same refinement and floral decoration may be seen in the
sophisticated and copious pierced, openwork silver mounting worked
in repoussé and chased. These, conceived from the outset given the
plane reserves later covered with the pierced mountings, with a clear
contrast between the silver and the smooth, flat ivory, not only further
contribute to the aesthetic unity of its decoration, but were
strategically placed over the joints uniting the ivory panels that form
this large casket: cusped, polylobate angle-pieces on the lid, and also
on the socle; bands on the lid forming a cross with a lozenge
in the centre (reminiscent of the female coat of arms) dividing the
carved composition in quarters, projecting towards to the edge and
covering the joints, also present on the socle; corner uprights covering
the edges of the box; and long, projecting hinges with polylobate
pierced finials, seen on the back and on the inside of the lid,
reminiscent of Mediaeval and Islamic models. The mountings also
comprise the turned-like side handles, exceptional for their weight
and the lock (double, spring lock), with the escutcheon in the shape
