A Veneto-Saracenic silver-inlaid pierced brass incense burner Syria, 14th/ 15th Century

A 'Veneto-Saracenic' silver-inlaid pierced brass incense burner Syria, 14th/ 15th Century of spherical form in two parts, engraved and decorated in silver inlay with a band of alternating cartouches and roundels filled with geometric and vegetal interlace, bands containing undulating floral vines, the top and bottom with large roundels containing interlaced foliate tendrils, traces of enamel, numerous drilled holes 12.6 cm. diam. Footnotes: This type of incense burner, sometimes described as a handwarmer, was inspired by armillary spheres produced in China as early as the Tang dynasty for use by astronomers. They were thought to have been made in the Mamluk empire for export to European cities with colder climates and were imitated by Venetian artists in the 16th Century. Other examples are in the British Museum (1878,1230.683) and the Freer Gallery of Art (see Esin Atil, W.T. Chase and Paul Jett, Islamic Metalwork in the Freer Gallery of Art , Washington, 1985, p. 171, no. 23). The geometric designs on the present lot simulate plaited kufic inscriptions like those on the Freer gallery example. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com