Mythical Beasts and Worldly Creature

P E T E R

F I N E R

MYTHICAL BEASTS & WO R L D LY C R E AT U R E S

MYTHICAL BEASTS & WO R L D LY C R E AT U R E S

FINE ANTIQUE ARMS, ARMOUR & RELATED OBJECTS 38 & 39 Duke Street, St James’s, London, SW1Y 6DF +44 (0)20 7839 5666 gallery@peterfiner.com www.peterfiner.com

Museums and foundations to whom we have sold: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York The Philadelphia Museum of Art The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Cleveland Museum of Art The Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford The Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City The Snite Museum of Art, Notre Dame The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning ASIA Chi Mei Culture Foundation, Taiwan The National Museum of Singapore CANADA The Glenbow Museum, Calgary EUROPE Deutsches Klingenmuseum, Solingen Rüstkammer, Dresden Landesmuseum für Kultur- und Landesgeschichte, Schloss Tirol Stedelijke Musea Kortrijk GREAT BRITAIN The Victoria and Albert Museum, London The Aberdeen Art Gallery The Royal Armouries, Leeds The National Army Museum, London The Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth The National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh The Royal Scots Regimental Museum, Edinburgh IRELAND The National Museum of Ireland, Dublin

38 & 39 Duke Street, St James’s, London, SW1Y 6DF +44 (0)20 7839 5666 gallery@peterfiner.com www.peterfiner.com

The objects in this catalogue, dating from the seventh century to the Renaissance through to the last decades of the 19th century, are purposeful works of art decorated with imaginings of mythical, legendary and ‘real’ animals. Artists have assigned meaning to animals both existent and imaginary since prehistory.

Many representations of animals here are realistic. Some are stylised, bearing little relation to the ‘real’ creature. Furthermore, the line between mythological and zoological animals was imprecise in eras when few individuals had ever seen species found only on another continent. Artists’ drawings were often the only knowledge of an animal available to fellow artists, especially those without access to royal courts.

While some appreciation of the symbolism of these animals helps, our ultimate goal is to focus the eye on the astonishing artistry and careful detail found in each object’s unique portrayal and representation of animals, and the imagination evident in a diversity of mediums, including precious metals, prized stones, and vibrant man-made lacquers and alloys.

We would like to thank the authors of this catalogue: Thom Richardson FSA, Curator Emeritus at the Royal Armouries, Greg Irvine, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, and former Senior Curator of the Asian Department, at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and Nicholas McCullough. We are immensely grateful for their knowledge and scholarship.

We would also like to thank David Edge for his illuminating explanations, Joanna Whalley Dip FGA DGA for her expertise with the gemmology, Robert Hales for his guidance, Mick Lapsley for his instrumental craftsmanship in mount making, David Bonser for his skill and patience and importantly Colin Crisford for his excellent photography.

The Finer Family

C

O N

T

E

N

T

S

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

12

13

11

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

C

O N

T

E

N

T

S

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

1

An Exceptional Sword, or Shamshir Early 19th century North India, Rajasthan Steel, gold, silver, enamel, diamonds, emeralds, green beryls, rubies and glass 104 cm / 40.9 in PROVENANCE Private collection, Denmark Private collection, United Kingdom

T

he hilt of this remarkably decorated sword shows three makaras, mythological sea-creatures that can be composed of elements of the crocodile, elephant, boar, fish, and peacock, which appear frequently in Hindu and Buddhist temple iconography as vahana, or vehicles upon which the goddesses of the Ganges and Narmada rivers, and the sea god Varuna, ride. Makaras feature prominently in Hindu and Buddhist architecture, for they are equally the protectors of thresholds and gateways and traditionally responsible for guarding throne rooms and temple entrances.

The present sword’s hilt is cast in silver and overlaid in gold; heads of makaras form the pommel and the quillon terminals, and small lion heads form the terminals of the langets. The foliate decoration is set in kundun style, on which three rosettes create blossoms that are comprised of a central emerald surrounded by smaller diamonds. Behind the head of the largest makara that forms the pommel are two large diamonds. The eyes of each of the five animals on the hilt are inset rubies, as are the ears of the smaller makaras and lions. The makaras each have a blood-red glass tongue that is hinged to move up and down between sharp gold teeth.

The blade of the present sword is of watered steel, watered in the distinctive ‘forty step’ or kirk narduban pattern; it has two cartouches inlaid with nasta’liq inscriptions in gold, the first reading ‘aml Asad Allah (made by Asad Allah), the second bandih-yi vilayat-i Shah ‘Abbas (‘Abbas, slave of the king of holiness).

The maker’s inscription refers to the most famous Persian swordsmith of the seventeenth century, ‘Asad Allah of Isfahan, after whom many Persian blades were inscribed to suggest that their quality was equivalent to that of the master’s blades.

A comparable but later makara hilt in blued steel is in the armoury of the Rathores at Jodhpur (Elgood, 2017, 366), and this has a similar blade with the same inscription.

2

A Fine Dagger, or Khanjar Early 18th century North India, Mughal period Nephrite jade, steel, gold, rubies and emeralds 36 cm / 14.17 cm

PROVENANCE Private collection, Italy; Private collection, United Kingdom

T

he hilt of this dagger is jade, carved in the form of a horse’s head wearing a bridle and halter of gold set with a series of rubies. Larger rubies in gold settings create the animal’s almond-shaped eyes. Foliage carved at the base of the hilt is also embellished with emeralds and rubies.

Fashionable dress of the nobility in northern India under the Mughals and their successor states included highly decorated daggers which reflected the wearer’s standing: animal-headed daggers, popular early in the 17th century, were reserved for nobility and a close study of Mughal miniature paintings reveals the restriction of these to a small number of princes and senior dignitaries. The most popular material for the hilts of the daggers was jade, either nephrite or, later, jadeite, imported from Central Asia, reflecting the Timurid heritage of the Mughal court.

Interestingly, the blade of this dagger has a slight reinforce at the tip, while the edges are of bright steel, and the recessed central panel is watered wootz steel.

Recent investigation by the research team at The Wallace Collection, London, in conjunction with the Italian Neutron Experiment Station at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, UK, has proven by neutron analysis that high quality daggers of this type from India can feature lesser quality steel edges that were invisibly welded onto a central wootz steel panel. Such craftsmanship demonstrates an extremely sophisticated technology for the time.

Compare a dagger in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (no. 3414 IS), and one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (no. 36.25.664.)

3

A Rare Dagger, or Khanjar Early 19th century India, possibly Jaipur Steel, gold, enamel, diamonds, rubies, pink sapphires, spinel’s, wood and textile 34 cm / 13.4 in PROVENANCE Private collection, USA

T

he horse-head pommel of this dagger would have reflected the wearer’s standing at court, where only princes and senior dignitaries wore daggers with hilts in the form of animal heads.

In pre-colonial India, horses were used in war, hunts and rituals. Horses were long a symbol of a ruler’s prestige: the mansabdar system, an administrative ranking introduced by Akbar in the 15th century, institutionalised the use of horses and Rajput nobles were given military positions according to the number of horses they had in their cavalry.

Enamelling was introduced to India in the 17th century from Europe and the practice spread rapidly across the sub-continent. The enamelled floral motifs and colour palette used on this piece suggest the centre of Jaipur for its manufacture.

The dagger relates to a small number of quite similarly decorated pieces with animal hilts, including a ram’s head dagger in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (no. 1970.180), and another with a tiger’s head in the Art Institute of Chicago (no. 2014.1197.)

4

Hilt of a Sword, or Talwar Late 19th century North India, possibly Gujarat Steel and gold 18 cm / 7 in PROVENANCE Private collection, United Kingdom

T

he ram was another animal selected by the Mughal nobility and their successors for depiction on sword and dagger hilts to connote power, and the pommel of this sword-hilt is cleverly cast as a ram’s head with curved horns. The patinated surface of the hilt is covered with floral ornament and scrolling foliage in gold koftgari, while gold patches and ruby eyes (in gold kundun settings) decorate the animal’s head.

This style of koftgari decoration is reminiscent of a sword hilt made for Sir Muhammad Mahabat Khanji II, Nawab of Junagarh in Gujarat in 1865, from the Taylor collection in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (no.

O.176.1879.)

5

A Rare Dagger, or Chilanum Early – mid 17th century South India, possibly Thanjavur, Nayak period Steel 27 cm / 10.63 in

PROVENANCE Private collection, United Kingdom

T

he yali is a protective demon, commonly depicted on the monumental gateways of Tamil temples, most of which were constructed during the Nayak period (16th-18th century) in southern India. The creature’s body was portrayed as part lion, part elephant and part horse, often with bird-like features.

Descriptions and references to yali are ancient, but they came to prominence in South Indian sculpture in the 16th century, believed to be more powerful than the lion or elephant, and sometimes riding on makaras. Yali were thought to have the same protective function when used on weapons, such as this dagger, that they provided at temple entrances.

This chilanum is characteristic of daggers from Tamil Nadu before the Maratha conquest of 1675.

Similar solid iron chilanum with yali pommels are preserved in the collection of the Raja of Thanjavur, and, almost certainly from the Thanjavur arsenal, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (no.

36.25.1039.)

6

A Fakir’s Crutch, or Bairagi 19th century North India Steel and silver 54 cm / 21.3 in PROVENANCE Private collection, USA

I

ndian fakirs, considered holy men of some power, were not permitted to carry weapons, so instead used a short crutch employed to support the arm when seated. Inside the crutch a stiletto blade was usually concealed, as with this.

This example terminates in a stylised makara head and is decorated in silver koftgari.

A comparable piece is in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (no. 480.1895.)

7

A Fine Persian Shield 19th century Iran, Persia, Qajar dynasty (1789 – 1925) Steel, gold, iron, velvet and leather 35.5 cm / 14 in PROVENANCE Private collection, USA

T

he outer iron brim of this shield is profusely decorated in gold with poetry in fine Naskh calligraphy. Running deer and birds within foliage, a traditional decorative scheme, create a superbly fluid scene. The inner-plate of this shield is of fine watered-steel and bears four bosses decorated with combating birds.

Birds represented a range of ideas – including freedom, love, fertility, ordained kingship, and healing – in Persian mythos and poetry. Persian art depicts real birds, such as nightingales, doves, peacocks, hawks, and falcons, as well as fantastical birds such as Simurgh, Huma, and Chamrosh.

The poem on the shield reads: If he was hit by an axe on the head In the middle, he would hold feet firmly Around the moon… it came like a star From one foot…

It was full of gems, and rubies It was round like the moon It came like the army of faith…

‫اگر بر سر او ضربت تبر آمده‬ ... ‫میانه پا استوار کرده‬ ‫ اختر آمده‬... ‫بدور قمر همچون‬ ‫ گر چو آب افتاد‬... ... ‫زیک پا‬ ‫پر ز یاقوت لعل گوهر بود‬ ‫همچه دور قمر مدور بود‬ ‫ آمد همچون لشکر دین‬....

The shield is particularly comparable to examples in the Wallace Collection, London.

8

A Dagger, or Khanjar Late 18th century Iran, Persia, Qajar dynasty (1789 – 1925) Steel and gold 40 cm / 15.75 in PROVENANCE Private collection, Europe

T

he blade of this dagger is decorated on either side with a chiselled medallion, which depicts lions devouring an antelope, and on the reverse, a lion catching a bull with birds circling above. The hilt is decorated in gold with hunters riding horses, lions, deer and hawks catching ducks. The pommel cap shows a lion and deer. The lion and deer, or antelope, is thought to symbolise the natural dominance of the king of beasts over his subjects, and by analogy support the legitimacy of kings of the period.

The art of the early part of the Qajar dynasty, which ruled Persia from 1789 to 1925, is characterised by wonderful depictions of noblemen riding to the hunt.

These can be seen on book bindings and pen cases as well as on objects intended for the hunt such as bows, axes and daggers. This style of decoration was influenced the painting of Mirza Baba (active 1793 – 1830) one of the most influential Qajar artists, famous for his work in Tehran for the court of the first Qajar Fath ‘Ali Shah (r. 1797 –1834).

Compare a dagger in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New, York (no. 32.75.266) and others in the Royal Collection, United Kingdon (nos 37860–2.)

9

The Head of a Saddle Axe, or Tabarzin Late 18th century Iran, Persia, probably Zand dynasty Iron 13.5 cm PROVENANCE Private collection, United Kingdom

T

his axe-head is chiselled with a lion attacking a hunter, while nearby, deer and hares leap in foliage.

The haft panels have medallions carved with ducks and the square back panel is decorated with a hawk descending on another bird, perhaps a heron, which may be interpreted as an allegory of royal triumph taken from early Persian literature.

10

An Axe, or Tabarzin Early 19th century Iran, Persia, Qajar dynasty (1789 – 1925) Steel and gold 61.5 cm / 24.21 in PROVENANCE Private collection, Austria

T

he saddle axe, so called because it was strapped to the rim of the saddle rather than carried by the warrior or suspended from his belt, was a singlehanded axe used by Turkish and Mongol cavalry from the medieval to the modern period. No Persian example dateable before the Safavid dynasty survives, but numerous references in epic literature show they were in regular use.

This axe is chiselled with combats between sparrowhawks (bāsheh) and herons (shāhmorgh).

It closely relates to the work of Lotf‘alı̄, the famous maker of exceptional quality saddle axes in late Safavid and early Zand dynasty Persia. Little is known of this artist, and his dated works span only the short period from 1734–40. Melikian-Chirvani, the only scholar to publish a study of these axes, identified the combat between sparrowhawks and herons seen here with an allegory of royal triumph in early Persian literature. A line by Farrokhi Sistani, in praise of the Ghaznavid sultan Muhammad ibn Mahmud, reads ‘His foes are like the heron and he like the white goshawk.’

11

An Exceptionally Fine Saddle, or Gser Sga 15th – 17th century Eastern Tibet or China Iron, silver, gold, wood and leather 30 cm / 11.8 in × 56 cm / 22 in PROVENANCE Private collection, United Kingdom

T

he mythical dragons of ancient Chinese folklore were adopted by neighbours, including Tibetan, Korean and Japanese cultures, for use in their own specific beliefs, storytelling, art and heraldry.

This saddle features elaborately decorated fretted gilt iron plates, pierced and chiselled with sinuous, scaly, four-clawed dragons writhing through a tracery of scrolling foliage that terminates in buds. Leaves, flowers and a denser tracery of scrolling foliage also feature on the plates of the saddle. In the catalogue to The Metropolitan Museum of Art's 2006 exhibition Warriors of the Himalayas: Rediscovering the Arms and Armor of Tibet, written by Donald J. LaRocca, he proposes that Chinese robes and silk brocade first introduced these major motifs to Tibetan art, and that images of dragons in scrolling foliage ‘closely mirror in form those on contemporary Chinese textiles.’

The saddle comprises a wooden frame to which the bow and cantle are attached by leather thongs; parts of the outside of the frame are covered in sinew, while the inside was painted blood-red, this polychrome still visible today. The saddles of the eastern steppe and the Tibetan plateau are renowned for their exquisite metal fittings and this saddle is one of a distinctive group with a high, narrow pommel and a low, reclining cantle.

Comparable examples are a saddle and a group of saddle plates in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (nos 1999.318, 2000.404) and another in the Royal Armouries, Leeds (no. xxvih.30.)

12

A Very Fine Pair of Stirrups 16th – 18th century Tibet Iron, silver and gold 15 cm / 5.9 in × 15 cm / 5.9 in PROVENANCE Private collection, Belgium

C

hiselled and gilded dragons’ heads decorate the foot and top of each arch of these stirrups, with teeth and tongues in the creatures’ open mouths.

The central block and posts of the stirrups are silvered. The treads, where the feet would rest, show the ‘square earrings of the precious minister’ motif, which form one of the ‘Seven Jewel Insignia of the Chakravartin’ of Tibetan Buddhism.

These stirrups closely relate to a comparable pair in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (no.

1997.214.2), which were acquired with a saddle said to have been used by the young Gyalwa Tenzin Gyatso in ceremonies following his identification as the fourteenth Dalai Lama in the 1930s. The present stirrups are slightly more ornate than the Met examples, with unusual additional dragons at the foot of each post.

13

A Rare Brace of Ceremonial Trident Heads, or Mdung Rtse-Gsum 17th century Tibet. Iron, bronze, gold, silver and polychrome 50 cm / 19.7 in × 33.5 cm / 13.2 in PROVENANCE Private collection, United Kingdom

T

hese tridents were intended for spiritual use and depict thod skam, or ‘dry skulls,’ among the attributes of the fierce guardian deities. In the catalogue to The Metropolitan Museum of Art's 2006 exhibition Warriors of the Himalayas: Rediscovering the Arms and Armor of Tibet, Donald J. LaRocca notes that thod skam are often seen in decorative schemes with curling tendrils ‘that may represent stylized intestines.’ The trident was a weapon of the Hindu god Shiva and was adopted by Buddhism as the weapon of deities associated with Shiva such as Vajrabhairava. The three points of the trident, or trisula, symbolise Buddha, dharma and sangha (the monastic community) in Mahayana Buddhism, and the ‘three roots’, guru, vidam and the dakini of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism. The hanging pendant bangles derive from the Shaivite practice of giving earrings or bangles to symbolise renunciation, in Buddhism the four represent the four immeasurables or Brahmaviharas (equanimity, love, compassion and joy.)

An almost identical example is in the collection of the Musée Guimet, Paris.

14

A Rare Axe, or Rdo Rje Dgra Sto 15th century Sino-Tibetan Iron, silver and gold 28 cm / 11 in PROVENANCE Private collection, France

T

he blade of this little axe emanates from the head of a gilt chu-srin, or makara, a mythological sea dragon. Gold flame scrolls run across the blade. Two half-vajras, or stylised thunderbolts, on lotus bases extend into a double-curved, silvered-iron haft. This half is also decorated with a makara head.

A closely comparable axe, though with a straight haft, in the Cleveland Museum of Art (no.1978.9.1) is inlaid with the inscription of the Ming Yongle emperor (1403–25), and forms part of a group of presentation pieces thought to have been dedicated to Tibetan monasteries early in the Ming dynasty.

In 1407 a high-ranking monastic patriarch visited the emperor and was presented with a number of gifts, of which the axe and ritual sceptres now in the British Museum and Metropolitan Museum (nos 1981.0207.1, 1993.69.5) were included. A flaying knife in the Cleveland Museum of Art (no. 1978.9.3) bears the Yongle mark, and with the famous Ming sword in the Royal Armouries, Leeds, were probably also included in this group.

15

A Rare Ritual Flask, or Yung Zor 18th – 19th century Tibet Yak-horn, silver, wood, brass and iron 19.7 cm / 7.75 in PROVENANCE The Collection of Dr Gordon, purchased from Spink and Son, September 1994

C

arved horns of this type were used to dispense seeds during Tibetan monastic fire-offering rituals.

The horn was used to hold mustard seeds which were shaken into the fire as part of the purifying ritual of the Spying Ghosts. The fire was typically retained within a triangular brazier, while cleansing and exorcising mantras were recited.

The sacred iconography represented in the carving of this flask shares the traditions of the Mahayana Buddhism of Tibet and China and the Hinduism of neighbouring India. This sharing of symbolic motifs comes quite understandably from the more ancient Indian Mahayana rites, which over time became infused into those of Tibet as a natural consequence of their proximity.

The body of the flask is finely carved in high relief, and the nozzle carved in the round as a striking representation of the mythical water monster chusrin, or makara, a hybrid water monster from Hindu mythology. In Tibetan iconography the makara is depicted within the Vajrayana weaponry of Strength and Tenacity. Behind the nozzle the figure of the birdgod Garuda, surrounded by a series of Buddhist sacred symbols, including a Tibetan votive stupa enclosed by a Vajrayana sword, a dagger and a sceptre with trident-head, the ‘Fungus of Immortality,’ and a Zodiacal Boar. Garuda is sacred as a dharma protector and as an Astasena, a non-human super being. A turtle-like creature’s shell is carved in the form of a divine trigram or cosmic diagram encircling

frieze of animals, which are perhaps the animals of the Chinese zodiac. The basal portion of the body is carved with a complex encircling of entwined serpents.

A similar example is in the Musée Guimet, Paris, and seen in the British Museum (nos 1992.1214.72–4 and As1895.0209.13.) An earlier example of the same type is on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. However, quite different from these relatively commonplace examples, the extraordinarily high quality of the workmanship in the present flask would indicate that it was almost certainly made for an important ranking individual, probably a military commander, a likelihood strengthened by the prominent inclusion in the carving of an elaborate divine trigram or cosmic diagram: these sacred devices were reserved for inclusion on the garments of Chinese and Tibetan military leaders and were also worn as an amulet to ensure good fortune.

16

A Horse-Tack Plaquette 15th – 17th century Sino-Tibetan Iron, gold and silver 8.8 cm / 3.5 in PROVENANCE Private collection, Italy Deer are a symbol in Tibetan Buddhism that reference the Buddha’s first teaching in the Deer Park, Sarnath.

17

A Bridle Mount 17th – 18th century Tibet Brass and gold 8.7 cm / 3.4 in PROVENANCE Private collection, Thailand Unlike later aggressive European conceptions, Tibetan Dragons are creatures of great creative power and representative of enlightenment.

18

A Horse Pendant 7th – 9th century North-West China, Tang Period Bronze and gold 8.2 cm / 3.2 in PROVENANCE Michel Pasiello, Paropamiso, Venice 2010 J.W.M. de Jong & I.V.H. de Roode Collection, Amsterdam In Chinese culture, Mandrin ducks are believed to be extremely faithful to their partner and thus symbols of devotion, affection and fidelity.

19

A Quiver, or Jian 18th century China. Qing Dynasty Wood, leather, iron, brass and enamel 34 cm / 13.4 in × 19.5 cm / 7.8 in PROVENANCE Private collection, France

T

he qilin, found here on blue enamel, is a mythical hooved chimerical creature from Chinese mythology. Thought to be a docile one-horned beast, a quilin also became associated with a pair of giraffe brought to China from East Africa during the Ming dynasty.

The Mongol conquest of China established the Central Asian horse archer as a key element of the Chinese military system which persisted through the Ming dynasty and was reinforced by the Manchu Qing dynasty, where hunting as well as warfare was hugely popular among the nobility.

This quiver is made of leather on a wooden frame, with the characteristic shape and cross-straps of Tibetan and Mongolian quivers. At the rear are four leather pockets for additional arrows, attached by a pair of brass hinges. The cross-straps are secured by five brass bosses, decorated with scrolling foliage on an enamel ground, the two large ones additionally decorated with qilin. The straps show four bats (fu) in brass. A central large brass and enamel boss is decorated with cloud scrolls.

Many of the Qing imperial quivers and their matching bow-cases are preserved in the collections of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, but few of these Mongolian style examples survive. The closest are one in the National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh (no. A.1927.321) and another probably Mongolian example in the Royal Armouries (no. xxvib.188), while similar style fittings are found on another later bow case and quiver in the same museum (no. xxvib.25).

20

A Finely Cast Bronze Ruji Sceptre Meiji period (1868 – 1912) Japan Bronze 34cm / 13 in Signed Hideaki PROVENANCE Private collection, United Kingdom

A

Ruji, in Japanese, or Ruyi in Chinese, is a curved ritual sceptre that was used during imperial ceremonies, as well as given as gifts to embody good fortune. To Confucians it symbolised authority and power, while to Daoists and Buddhists it represented enlightenment. In Edo period Japan a ruji appears in Buddhist images of the Bodhisattva. Many deaths and rebirths had to be suffered to reach Nirvana, and the skull symbolizes the impermanence of life.

21

An Exceptional Short Sword, or Ko-wakizashi Blade by Ō-Sa, Kamakura–Nambokuchō period, second quarter 14th century Mounts by Seiryōken Hagiya Katsuhira, Meiji period, about 1880 Japan Steel, silver, gold, copper alloy, wood and lacquer 63 cm / 24.8 in PROVENANCE Private collection, France

J

apanese dragons are powerful water creatures and in Buddhism are regarded as guardian deities which control rain, clouds and water, all elements essential for the production of rice, the staple food of Japan and on which the economy and wealth were based. It is a creature which has featured in legends from the earliest times, being mentioned in the Kojiki, ‘the Record of Ancient Matters’, an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends and songs dating from the early eighth century.

Mountings with writhing dragons appear to have been a favourite theme of Seiryōken Hagiya Katsuhira’s. Here a silver dragon is entwined around the hilt (tsuka), the dragon’s head (with inlaid eyes of varied copper alloys) forming the pommel (kashira) and consuming the copper-bound grip from the top.

The silver collar (fuchi), with its design of waves, is signed Itō Masanori (伊藤正教) of Musashi province; for a tsuba by the same maker, compare Museum of Fine Art, Boston, no. 11.11771 The dragon theme continues with the handle (kozuka) of the bye-knife (kogatana) and bodkin (kogai) of carved silver depicting dragons and clouds. The silver cord securing knob (kurikata) and hook (kaeritsuno) which holds the scabbard when the sword is drawn are also decorated with clouds. The scabbard (saya) is of the finest hiramakie lacquer sprinkled with gold dust and featuring a fearsome dragon in gold, red and silver lacquer. The chape (kojiri) is decorated with the kuginuki (nail-puller) mon used by a number of samurai families, including the influential Matsudaira, from whom the Tokugawa were descended.

The guard (tsuba) is signed Hagiya Katsuhira (萩谷 勝平) with a calligraphic seal (kao). Hagiya Katsuhira (1804–86), art name Seiryōken (生涼軒), was taught first by his brother Katsufusa, known as Terakado Yosaburō, and later studied under Shinozaki Katsushige and Oyama Motozane (1741-1830). He played an important role among the metalworkers of Mito province, and after the Meiji restoration became Professor at the Tokyo Art Academy.

The blade is signed Chikushū-ju Sa (筑前左), by the important swordsmith known as Ō-Sa (Saemon Saburō Yasuyoshi) regarded as the last of the students of the renowned smith Masamune, who worked in the Nambokuchō period specialising in tantō blades. The blade is hirazukuri (flat-sided with no ridge), with a notare hamon of gently undulating waves. It has the turnback of the hamon at the boshi found on many of the tantō blades for which Sa is famous.

This set of mounts are very elaborate and of the highest quality produced by the finest artists, but in a style designed to also appeal to western taste. The samurai as a class was officially abolished in a series of measures which culminated in the Haitōrei Edict of March 1876 which finally ended the samurai privilege of carrying swords, weapons which had been central to their authority. Swordsmiths and metalworkers who had depended on samurai patronage for their livelihood had to find other outlets for their craft.

22

An Iron Helmet, or Jingasa 18th – 19th century Japan, Edo Period Iron, silver and gold 41 cm / 16 in PROVENANCE Private collection, Italy

T

his Jingasa shows a dragon snaking through clouds. The dragon in East-Asian mythology is a creature associated with water, rather than the firebreathing creatures in European folklore, and it is therefore often associated with the sea and clouds, as can be seen on this helmet.

23

A Fine and Rare Dagger, or Ken Tantō in the form of a flute wrapped in a dragon Meiji period (1868 – 1912) Mounts possibly by Seiryōken Hagiya Katsuhira, about 1880 Japan Steel, silver, gold, iron, copper alloy and wood 41cm / 16 in PROVENANCE Private collection, United Kingdom

T

he Japanese flute (ryūteki, literally ‘dragon flute’) is one of the main melodic instruments of Gagaku (court music) and the ryūteki’s sound is said to represent that of dragons soaring between heaven and earth. The dragon mounts of this fine tantō are therefore a playful reference to the name of the instrument.

The double-edged blade has a horimono depicting the standing figure of Fudo Myō-ō with flaming mandala beneath clouds, while the reverse has a further horimono of flames and clouds. The tang with one mekugi ana has the inscription Umetada Myōju, horimono dosaku (埋忠明 寿彫同作) the carving done by the same hand.

Tantō made in the form of a straight sword, or ken, were usually made for presentation to Buddhist temples for ritual, hence the multiple Buddhist references on the blade and mounts. Umetada Myōju (1558–1631) was a great tsuba maker as well as a fine swordsmith, and a renowned judge of swords. He is regarded as the founder of the ‘new sword’ Shintō era of sword making. The Umetada school he founded was based in Kyoto though other branches of his school were subsequently founded in other regions. Many of his extant blades are decorated, like this one, with horimono of Fudo Myō-ō.

The blade is fitted with a silver one-piece habaki with stylised gilt waves. The mounting (koshirae) is designed as a flute with a silver dragon in high relief entwined around and through it, bound in russet iron wire and decorated with bands of gilt tiles. On the base of the scabbard (kojiri) is a seal reading Toshi, possibly Toshiya (敏矢.) Another very similar koshirae now in the Khalil Collection is signed Shōraku (正 楽) for Tetsugendō Shōraku and sealed Toshiyuki. The style of the mountings is close to the work of the early Meiji master Seiryōkan Hagiya Katsuhira (1804–86.)

There are few authenticated blades by Umetada Myōju but in the Meiji period (1868-191) blades in the style of great masters were often made, a process called utsushi. The maker of an utsushi blade challenges himself to create a work in the style of the past master and to pay homage to the original maker and focuses on the techniques required to make such a masterpiece himself. The blade was therefore probably made and mounted in the Meiji period.

24

A Helmet, or Jingasa 19th century Japan, Edo Period Wood, lacquer, gold and fabric 38 cm / 15 in PROVENANCE Private collection, France This lacquer Jingasa features a curling dragon.

25

A Guardless Dagger, or Aiguchi Tantō Blade by Hasebe Kunishige, Nambokuchō period, mid-14th century Mounts late Edō period, 19th century Japan Steel, silver, copper alloy, wood, lacquer, ray skin and silk 45cm / 17.7 in PROVENANCE Private collection, USA

I

n Japan, the crane is symbolic of long life and good fortune and is said to live for a thousand years. The bird is also considered a sign of good luck. The link to samurai authority is reflected in the Japanese saying tsuru no hitokoe – ‘the voice of the crane’ – implying the voice of authority and unchallengeable order of the ruling samurai military class.

The blade is flat sided with no ridges (hira zukuri), the jihada showing traces of wood grain (mokume). The tempered edge (hamon) is notare, gently undulating, widening to the boshi with niedeki hitatsura - islands of tempering within the ji. The tang is signed Hasebe Kunishige (長谷部国重) for the famous mid-14th century swordsmith, thought to be one of the ten students of Masamune. Many of his attested tantō blades have typical Sōshū School hamon and hitatsura in this style. Whether this is first or second generation Kunishige is unclear and there is much debate about the genealogy of the two swordsmiths.

The hilt is of wood covered with rayskin (same) and bound with black silk braid. The collar and pommel cap (fuchi-kashira) are of silver chiselled with cloud scrolls with shibuichi and gilded highlights on a stippled ground. The menuki take the form of dragons in shibuichi with gilded flames, one dragon looking forward, the other back. The scabbard is covered in black lacquer decorated with gold lacquer red-cap cranes flitting between golden clouds. The scabbard mounts of kojiri, kurikata and koiguchi are also of silver with carved cloud scrolls and cranes on a stippled ground, as is the matching kozuka of the kogatana.

26

A Helmet, or Jingasa 19th century Japan, Edo Period Wood, lacquer, gold and fabric 41 cm / 16 in PROVENANCE Private collection, Belgium

T

he striking gold and black design seen here depicts a crane, a symbol of good fortune and long life as the bird was said to live for a thousand years. The canes here may be a mon, a Japanese emblem used to decorate but also identify an individual or family.

27

A Guardless Dagger, or Aiguchi Tantō Blade c. 1650 – 1700, mounts c. 1800 – 1850 Japan, Edo period Steel, silver, gold, lacquer, copper alloy, wood, ray skin and silk 43.5 cm / 17.1 in PROVENANCE Private collection, USA

T

he blade of this dagger is chiselled with a horimono depicting the standing figure of Fudo Myō-ō, the Buddhist Guardian King of Light on a rock with flaming mandala; a matching Sanskrit character (bonji) for Fudo Myō-ō on the reverse. The blade is iori mune and hira zukuri, the narrow hamon suguha with a komaru boshi, slightly turned back at the kissaki. The ground is itame and mokume hada.

The hilt (tsuka) is of wood covered with ray skin (same) bound with brown silk braid, fitted with a pommel cap (kabuto-gane) of silver and copper alloy (shibuichi) carved in the form of a tiger with inlaid gold stripes crouched on a textured rock. The menuki are of shakudō in the form of tigers clinging to the hilt, set with gold stripes. The saya is of wood covered in black lacquer speckled with gold and decorated overall with bamboo.

The scabbard collar (koiguchi) is of shibuichi to match the hilt fittings and decorated with a small shakudō, and gold tiger by a rock in a windy landscape with gilt autumnal maple leaves. The cord fitting (kurikata) is in the form of a humorous tiger carved from shibuichi with highlights in copper, shakudō and gilding. The chape (kojiri) is in the form of a finely carved seated tiger.

Set in a pocket is a kogatana signed Bizen kuni Osafune Ju Fujiwara Toshi (備前国長船住藤原寿), perhaps for Toshimitsu (寿光) a nineteenth century member of the Tanaka-Tōryusai school of Edō. The kogatana handle (kozuka) is of shibuichi carved with a waterfall and bamboo and an applied tiger with details highlighted in gold.

28

A Short Sword, or Wakizashi Late Edo period 1750 – 1850 Japan Steel, silver, gold, copper alloy, cloisonné enamels, wood, leather and ray skin 59 cm / 23.2 in PROVENANCE Private collection, Sweden

T

he koshirae, is mounted in a late form of Heian period court style. The hilt (tsuka) is covered in rayskin (same), the scabbard (saya) covered in leather, and these are accompanied by a set of mounts of sentoku (copper alloy) decorated with red, white, yellow and green cloisonné enamels and chiselled butterflies and chrysanthemums on a stippled ground. The cloisonné enamel sword-guard (tsuba) is decorated with stylised clouds and is a little earlier than the other cloisonné fittings, dating to around 1700.

The sword is accompanied by a smaller knife (kogatana), the steel blade signed Hizen no kami Fuijwara Kuniyoshi (肥前守藤原國吉), the handle (kozuka) with cloisonné enamels and chiselled butterflies and chrysanthemums on a stippled ground matching the rest of the koshirae.

29

A Fine Sword Guard, or Mokko Tsuba

By Gotō Mitsumori, dated 1783 Japan Sentoku, gold, copper, shibuichi, shakudō 10.5 cm / 4.13 in PROVENANCE Private collection, USA

M

ade in copper alloy (sentoku), finely carved and inlaid in high relief (iroe taka zōgan) in gold, copper, shibuichi and shakudō. The obverse depicts two of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune engaged in a variant of the Japanese ‘neck-pulling’ game Kubi-hiki.

The trial of strength shows Fukurokuju, the god of wisdom, luck, longevity, wealth and happiness using his elongated bald head to wrestle with Bishamonten, the God of Fortune in War.

The reverse depicts an anthropomorphic crane and turtle carved in fine oblique chisel cuts (katakiri bori).

The crane wears a Shinto cap, and the turtle carries a fan, perhaps a parody of sumo wrestling judges. The crane and turtle are linked in the Japanese saying ‘tsuru sen-nen, kame man-nen’ – the Crane one thousand years, the Tortoise ten thousand years – in reference to wishes for a long and happy life.

The tsuba is inscribed ‘Tenmei mitsu mizunotō, shunjitsu’ (天明三癸卯 春日) – a spring day in the water rabbit third year of the Tenmei reign period (equivalent to 1783) – and signed Keijō (慶乗) for the fourteenth generation Gotō Shirobei school master Gotō Mitsumori (1739–1804.)

As well as being a great artist in his own right, Mitsumori also carried out appraisals of sword fittings and produced signed certificates (origami) just as the Hon’ami family did for sword blades. The same obverse design appears on a sentoku tsuba signed Issando Joi (1701–61) and dated 1751.

The Gotō family worked for the ruling samurai aristocracy for over 400 years and over 17 generations.

They were responsible not only for supplying sword fittings for the shogunate but also for the regional daimyō who had to attend the shogun’s court in the system of alternate attendance known as sankinkōtai.

30

A Dagger, or Tantō Blade late 16th century Mounts c. 1800 – 1850 Japan Steel, silver, gold, copper alloy, lacquer, wood, ray skin and silk 32 cm / 12.5 in PROVENANCE Private collection, United Kingdom

T

he decoration of the scabbard and mounts illustrate and mix aspects of several tales relating to the monkey. One legend refers to a monkey stealing a peach from the gods and gaining immortality. A Buddhist story relates how a longarmed monkey attempts to seize the reflection of a moon in a well; the monkey refers to unenlightened people who cannot distinguish between reality and illusion. On this scabbard the two stories combine as the monkey reaches out to the peach kurikata which is a substitute for the moon.

The hilt of this dagger is of wood covered with rayskin (same) with silk binding over ornamental fittings (habaki) which aid grip. These are of silver with copper details and take the form of monkeys, one of which holds a peach. The carved pommel (kashira) is in the form of two monkeys in silver with copper details; the collar (fuchi) is silver carved to depict peaches and leaves. The guard (tsuba) is plain silver with the edges carved as a thin long-armed monkey.

The scabbard is of wood covered with black lacquer and decorated in gold lacquer relief (taka) and flat (hira) maki-e. The outward facing side (omote) shows a riverbank with a boat and crab in the reeds; the inner side (ura) a group of fishermen hauling in their catch. The chape (kojiri) is in the form of a monkey in silver with copper details. His unfeasibly long arm stretches out to the cord-securing fitting (kurikata) which is of silver and carved in the form of a peach and its stem.

A pocket in the scabbard holds a silver byeknife (kogatana) the blade of which has the inscription Ikeda Kishin Maru Kunishige (池田鬼 神丸国重.) The handle (kozuka) shows the moon behind clouds with a nightingale flying by. Many kogatana blades have inscriptions which refer to the work of great smiths or to legendary blades. In this instance to a legendary blade so sharp and powerful that only a demon (kishin) could use it.

The dagger blade is in shobu-zukuri form. It has been much polished but there is a faint suguha hamon in nie and the ground (hada) shows strong wood-grain (mokume) forging patterns; there is a silver collar (habaki) with cross hatching decoration.

The tang (nakago) is unsigned and has three holes (mekugi-ana).

31

An Exceptional Short Sword, or Wakizashi Blade by Awataguchi Ōmi no kami Tadatsuna II, 1680 – 1700 Mounts by Ōju Yoshitoshi, 1800 – 1850 Japan Steel, silver, copper alloy, wood, lacquer, ray skin and silk 71 cm / 28 in PROVENANCE Private collection, United Kingdom

T

he wooden scabbard of this short sword is covered with fine black lacquer with gold sprinkled maki-e and the tsuba, or sword guard, signed Ōju Yoshitoshi, is carved in relief with a monkey fighting with an eagle, a popular theme in Japanese art which shows the tenacity of the eagle in protecting its young.

The hilt, or tsuka, is wrapped in rayskin (same) with a pommel (kashira) in the form of an eagle finely carved in high relief in silver, accented with gilding and copper. Other fittings on the tsuka are also of silver with gilding and copper highlights and show monkeys fighting over a peach, taken from a legend which tells of a monkey who steals the Peach of

Immortality from the gods. The silver collar (fuchi) with more squabbling monkeys in the same technique is also signed Ōju Yoshitoshi.

In a pocket of the koshirae is a kogatana signed Tenpō san nen tsukuru Naotane (天保三年造る直 胤), ‘made by Naotane in the third year of the Tenpo period’ - the date equivalent to 1832. The handle (kozuka) of the kogatana is signed Ōju Yoshitoshi.

Many kogatana blades have inscriptions which refer to the work of renowned smiths. Here the reference is to Taikei Naotane (1778-1857) who worked in the Tenpō period but is not recorded as actually making kogatana blades.

The chape (kojiri) is again of silver with details in gilding and copper and continues the theme of an eagle fighting monkeys; it is signed Yoshitoshi. Along one side of the koshirae is an applied silver, gilt and copper monkey in a vine which leads up to the cord securing fitting (kurikata) of an angry monkey in silver, gilding and copper.

The earlier blade is broad shinogi-zukuri with chūkissaki and ko-itame hada; the hamon is a mix of chōji-gunome and toranba (billowing waves) which extends almost to the shinogi. The omote (outward facing side of the blade) has a carving (horimono) of a dragon chasing the sacred pearl of enlightenment; the ura (inner-facing side of the blade) a horimono of two parallel grooves and a stylised vajra hilt which represent the Buddhist sword (ken) carried

by Fudo Myō-ō, the Guardian King of Light with the corresponding Sanskrit character (bonji) for Fudo Myō-ō carved further along the shinogi. The blade has a collar (habaki) of copper covered with gold foil.

There were two smiths, father and son, using the signature, Awataguchi Ōmi no kami Tadatsuna; the family moved from Kyoto to Osaka and both father and son were extremely good swordsmiths. This blade is probably by Tadatsuna II who was noted both for the fine quality of his steel and his skill in decorative carving of horimono as can clearly be seen on this blade. Tadatsuna II in many ways surpassed his father and the flamboyant toranba style of hamon was much favoured by him – as well as by his clients, many of whom would have been rich Osaka merchants, rather than samurai. The superb mounting and fitting of the blade reflects this supposition.

32

An Exceptionally Rare Helmet, or Namban Kabuto c. 1590 – 1640 Japan, Momoyama Edo period Steel, gold and silver 20 cm / 8 in × 28 cm / 11 in × 30 cm / 10.2 in 1.9 kg / 4 lb 4 oz PROVENANCE The Ota Family, Japan, during the Edo period (1603-1868) Private collection, France

T

he dragon in East Asian mythology is a creature associated with water, rather than the fire-breathing creature known in the West, and it is therefore often associated with the sea and with clouds, clouds, as can be seen on the present helmet. The particular dragon portrayed here represents the Yamata no Orochi, an eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent that was slain by Susano-ō no Mikoto, the brother of the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu Omikami. When he had killed the beast, he found in its tail the sword, later named Kusanagi no Tsurugi, that became part of the Imperial regalia: the sword is today enshrined at the Shintō shrine of Atsuta Jingu, in Nagoya.

The decoration of a dragon, together with a reference to the Imperial sword, on a helmet inspired by the headgear of the ‘Southern Barbarians’, who had introduced such powerful new weapons in the form of guns, makes a persuasive visual political statement – as well as one showing personal cosmopolitan taste. The production of namban-influenced armour

continued after 1639 when the Iberian traders, and more importantly their missionaries, were banned from Japan. There was a brief vogue for Dutchinfluenced armour but the traditional morions and cabassets were to influence the style of purely Japanese helmets known momonari kabuto.

lacquered iron face masks to be worn with helmets.

The Japanese armourer who created the skull of our helmet from two pieces of iron and embossed each of them with a dragon, a popular creature in Japanese mythology and one with many attributes, was therefore well practised and extremely skillful.

It is particularly apt that this splendid namban kabuto also bears the remains of a label indicating that, during the Keichō era (1596-1615), it was taken to Korea in the second of the ambitious military campaigns of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, whose intention was no less than the overall conquest of China. The first campaign took place during 1592-93, under the leadership of Konishi Yukinaga and Kato Kiyomasa and achieved only a very limited success that resulted in protracted peace negotiations. In frustration, Hideyoshi broke off the talks and began what became known as the Keichō campaign, under the same leadership. This campaign was fought during 1597-98, ending with the death of Hideyoshi in September 1598. The label is not contemporary with the helmet and was written at an unspecified later date by a member of the Ota family in Tokyo. Edo, the former capital of the Tokugawa shōgunate was renamed Tokyo in 1868, following the restoration to full authority of the Emperor Meiji, so we can assume that this helmet was an heirloom of the Ota family during the Edo period (1603-1868).

The fashion for things Western produced, in the field of armour, many fabulous and extraordinarily shaped helmets that became known as kawari kabuto – ‘extraordinary’, or ‘different’ helmets – all of which drew attention to the wearer and some of which would have been very impractical on the battlefield.

What is especially interesting about our helmet is that the Japanese armourer has simply taken the form of the ‘Portuguese hat’ and freely adapted it to produce a helmet in purely Japanese taste. Another interesting feature of our helmet is the very curious central ridge: this seems to have no antecedent in either European or Japanese helmets.

Many fantastically shaped helmets were produced, particularly during the Momoyama period, from 1568 to circa 1600, often from single pieces of iron, and there was already by that time an established tradition of producing many forms of elegant, and often ferociously countenanced, hammered and

E XHIBITED Portugal, Jesuits, and Japan. Spiritual Beliefs and Earthly Goods, Boston, McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, 16th February - 2nd June, 2013, catalogue no. 11, p. 100 Di Linea e di Colore. Il Giappone, le sue arti e l’incontro con l’Occidente/Line and Colour. Japanese Arts and the European Connection, Florence, Palazzo Pitti - Museo degli Argenti, 3rd April - 1st July 2012, exhibition catalogue no. 11, illustrated, pp. 286-287 After the Barbarians II. Namban Works of Art for the Japanese, Portuguese and Dutch Markets, London/ Lisbon, Jorge Welsh Oriental Porcelain and Works of Art, 2008, catalogue no. 4, pp. 116-119

33

A Flintlock by Pietro Paolo Panteghino c. 1680 – 1700 Northern Italy, Brescia Iron 12 cm / 4.72 in PROVENANCE Private collection, Belgium

I

n the 17th century the iron chisellers of the North Italian city of Brescia enjoyed the patronage of royalty and nobility and their designs involved figural subjects from classical mythology, grotesques and monsters in the tradition of the Latin ‘Bestiary’ manuscripts of the 12th and 13th centuries.

This lock for a sporting gun includes a sportsman shooting game, however the remainder of the scheme abruptly transitions to fantasy. A Triton demigod rides a monster which in turn tramples a smaller marine monster. The rim of the priming-pan is cut with a small demon mask, and the frizzen decorated with

a pagan ‘Green Man.’ The scaled body of a snarling monster curling upon itself entwines in combat with another on the breast of the cock. Perched behind the monster’s head is a Triton sounding his horn.

Triton was the son of the Sea Gods Poseidon and Amphitrite. He was trumpeter to Oceanus and Poseidon and the great sound of his horn put giants to flight, mistaking it for the roar of a fearsome beast, a fitting analogy between a firearm and the ancient world. The present lock-plate is signed ‘Panteghino Brescia’ on the top flat by the pan.

34

A Finely Carved Hunting Horn,

by A. V. Lebeda c. 1850 Austrian Empire Wood, silver and horn 22 cm / 8.7 in PROVENANCE Private collection, Portugal Private collection, USA

T

he scene that decorates this horn is taken from the folktale Reineke Fuchs (Reynard the Fox), a tale current throughout northern Europe from the twelfth century and thought, perhaps, to originate in Flanders.

On the horn, Reynard the Fox is about to be hanged for his numerous crimes against most of the rest of the animal kingdom, having been sentenced to death by the Lion, who – although king of the beasts – is not that intelligent. Reynard’s particular foes are Isegrim, the Wolf, who can be seen at the foot of the ladder ready to kick it away and launch Reynard into eternity, Bruin, the Bear, equipped with a halberd and holding the ropes tying Reynard’s hands, and Tybault, the Cat (from whose name is drawn the popular pet cat’s name ‘Tibby’), who is securing Reynard’s noose to the branch of the tree. All three of Reynard’s particular enemies are anxious to see him ‘turned off’ but, in the scene depicted, Reynard is astonishing the Lion by telling him of a plot against his life that he, Reynard, recently thwarted and which involved a quantity of buried treasure – the location of which Reynard can, of course, reveal if spared.

Predictably, the Lion is convinced of Reynard’s worth and so spares his life, an action that appals most of the rest of the animals. Ultimately, Reynard sees the error of his ways but remains, characteristically, duplicitous and clever – thus fulfilling the traditional character ascribed by humans to foxes.

This horn would once have formed part of the ceremonial hunting dress of a wealthy continental European sportsman. It was made in the Prague studio of the famous Bohemian gunmaker Anton Vinzent Lebeda (1797– 1857). In 1852 Lebeda was appointed gun-maker to the Imperial Court of the Emperor Franz-Joseph, an active and avid sportsman. Lebeda made guns and sporting equipment for British and European royalty and aristocracy and examples of his work are in many public collections worldwide.

35

The Royal Arms of King Henry VIII, with Garter c. 1525 England.

Wood and polychrome 97 cm / 38.2 in × 73 cm / 28.7 in PROVENANCE Private collection, United Kingdom Private collection, Belgium

T

he lion is one of the earliest animals to appear in royal arms, as a traditional symbol of bravery, strength and valour. Its earliest recorded use by an English monarch was the gift of a shield, decorated with small golden lions, given to Geoffrey Plantagenet

by Henry I when he married Henry’s daughter Matilda in 1127.

In Medieval Europe the lion was long a Christian symbol: associated with St Mark and St Jerome, the lion exited first from Noah’s ark and the bible states that ‘the righteous are as bold as a lion.’ In the ancient world lions had roamed southern Europe (they appear in cave drawings at Chauvet, France), but by the Middle Ages lions were as fabled, and powerful, a creature to most Europeans as a unicorn.

For a ruler to draw the analogy between their own ascendency and the regal ‘king of beasts’ was natural propaganda.

This finely carved wooden panel shows the royal arms of England used by King Henry VIII throughout his reign. These arms had been restored by King Edward IV, first in 1461 and again ten years later, and were used by successive British monarchs thereafter, until replaced in 1554 by Queen Mary I on her marriage to King Philip of Spain. The arms consist of four quarters; the upper left and lower right containing the three gold fleurs-de-lis of France on a blue ground, the upper right and lower left the three gold lions of England on a ground which would originally have been red, the polychrome today aged.

The shield holding the arms overlays a garter carved as a belt of blue with a gilded buckle and gold borders and lettering. It carrys the motto of England’s most senior knightly order, founded by King Edward III in 1348 (the Most Noble Order of the Garter). HONI٠SOET٠QI٠ITL٠I٠P[-]NSE (modern accepted spelling being 'Honi soit qui mal y pense’) is a Middle French maxim that translates as 'shamed be whoever thinks evil of it.’ It is said to derive from Edward III's admonishment of his courtiers after he chivalrously picked up his dancing partner’s fallen garter and placed it on his own leg, in an effort to soften her embarrassment. This story first appears nearly 200 years after Edward III’s reign however, and scholars today propose that the motto was more likely directed at those who objected to the King’s aim of ruling France.

This panel is a finely carved and originally costly example of the nature of decoration regularly commissioned to decorate fine buildings in England during the first half of the 16th century. It almost certainly dates from the reign of King Henry VIII, and was perhaps originally part of a decorative scheme for one of his own buildings or that of one of his notable and distinguished contemporaries.

36

An Exceptional Casket by Plácido Zuloaga c. 1870 Spain, Madrid or Eibar Steel, gold and silver 33 cm / 13 in × 52 cm / 20.5 in × 26.5 cm / 10.4 in Signed ‘PZ’ for Plácido Zuloaga PROVENANCE Alfred Morrison (1821–97) Siegfried Sassoon CBE MC DLITT (1886–1967) George Thorneycroft Sassoon (1936–2006) Private collection, Switzerland LITERATURE Anonymous, ‘Treasure-Houses of Art’, part II, The Magazine of Art, vol. II (1879), pp. 206–11, illustrated

T

his sumptuous casket by the famed 19th century craftsman Plácido Zuloaga finds inspiration in an important French ceremonial shield, dating from the late 16th century; it is today, as it was in Zuloaga’s lifetime, in the Musée de l’Armée, Paris (inv no 2018.0.180), where the artist no doubt saw it. This late Renaissance shield, and its accompanying ‘Chimera’ helmet (inv no 2018.0.174) were renowned in 19th century Paris; the large crabs found among the shield’s blued scrolls were believed to refer to its unidentified recipient’s astrological sign. The crab, which is found twice on Zuloaga’s casket, is a constellation, and since ancient times a symbol of the moon and its goddess Diana.

These crabs are surrounded by piping Satyrs and languid swans; partridge and serpents hang in repoussé and blackened foliage on both the shield and Zuloaga’s casket. Snails and dragonflies dot the entirely gilded backgrounds of both works. Though this fauna is characteristic of French Renaissance decoration, this design stems from schemes for armour by the goldsmith and engraver Étienne Delaune (1519 – 1583.)

Splendid trophies of arms are a focal point on both objects, framed by putti blowing striped horns above curling serpents whose mouths open wide to display vicious fangs. If Delaune drew lion-faced grotesques with horns of a goat and a ring in its mouth also found on the casket, Zuloaga added original figures of Cupid at the corners of his work gripping batons in tense contrapposto with their winged backs to the viewer, as if ready for battle. The inspiration for the pattern is patent, yet Zuloaga elaborated on earlier ideas seamlessly in creating a central medallion for his casket that is found again at the back. In this rondel, the nude figure of Leda kneels, her drapery caught in a zephyr above her. The swan she kisses is Zeus in disguise. The story is told by Ovid in his Metamorphoses and alludes to another constellation: the Swan, Cycnus.

The front panel of the casket features a corresponding rondel on a latch, which shows Cupid, his arrow inhand, astride a dolphin. The scene also appears in Ovid’s Metamorphoses and illustrates the impatience

of Love. The dolphin is likewise a constellation: Delphinus, found in the late summer sky. Above this rondel, a pair of frogs look ready to leap, and two long-necked sphinxes frame it. In Greek mythology, the sphinx had the head of a woman, the body of a lion and the tail of a dragon. Nearby, satyrs crouch on cornucopias, a symbol of abundance.

The design of this extraordinarily-crafted casket relates in its decorative style to other works of the period by Zuloaga, such as those found in the collection of Dr Nasser D. Khalili, the finest private collection of the Zuloagas’ work in existence today.

The Khalili collection contains five of Zuloaga’s creations originally commissioned by the same patron, Alfred Morrison (1821 – 1897). Their style of decoration was well developed by Zuloaga and seen as early as drawings ascribed to him and published

by Charles Claesen following the Brussels Industrial Arts Exhibition of 1856.

Plácido Zuloaga (1834–1910) was the grandson of Blas Zuloaga of Eibar (1782–1856), armourer to the Royal Bodyguard and honorary chief armourer of the Real Armería (Royal Armoury), and who was a friend and contemporary of the painter Goya.

Plácido’s father, Eusebio Zuloaga (1808 – 1898), born in Madrid, specialised in the very finest of Spanish decorative ironwork and damascening and achieved international renown for his work. He was apprenticed to his uncle from 1822 to 1827, before returning to Madrid to work with his father. Eusebio travelled to France in 1830 to work for the gunmaker Le Page in Paris and at the royal arms factories at St Etienne. Returning to Madrid in 1833, Eusebio was Deputy Armourer to the Royal Household between 1834 and 1838, and established his own gunmaking factory in Eibar by 1841.

By 1855 father and son worked together and the Zuloaga name represented Eusebio and his son Plácido, the designer of this casket. The Zuloagas employed the type of designs found on our casket by the time of the Great Exhibition in London in 1851: a pair of pistols is recorded from that year that show an early form of this style and technique.

37

A Seal Matrix c. 14th century Germany Bronze 3.7 cm / 1.5 in PROVENANCE Private collection, Bavaria, acquired in the mid-1990s Private collection, Cologne, Germany, acquired 1999

38

A Medieval Equestrian Harness Pendant 14th century England or France Copper alloy, gold 4 cm / 1.57 in PROVENANCE Private collection, United Kingdom

T

he face of this pendant, incised and gilt, shows a left-facing walking horse motif. Behind the horse is a leafy tree incised and gilt also, and each set against a profusely punched and gilt contrasting ground.

The added pastoral aspect of the design suggests that the horse emblem is in this instance a personal badge rather than an heraldic device, this is, in turn, indicative of the pendant belonging to the horse harness of a notable of wealth and rank, rather than to that of a knight.

Medieval tales of the ancients were central to a nobleman’s education and accounts of the of the courage and steadfast loyalty of Alexander the Great’s mount Bucephalus, and of Julius Caesar’s devoted and fearsome war-horse each ensured the well-bred horse a place of high esteem. From this platform the natural link between equine culture and the European chivalric code gathered pace throughout the medieval period.

39

A Medieval Buckle 14th century England or France Copper alloy, gold, silver and iron 5.5 cm / 2.2 in PROVENANCE Private collection, United Kingdom

T

his plate is incised with a finely drawn heraldic lion, the beast gilded against a punched and silvered small background panels. In the lore of the medieval Latin Bestiaries or ‘books of beasts’ the lion is ‘The Prince of All Animals.’ Therein it was said that their primary attributes were courage and compassion, and it is not surprising therefore that the lion was a popular heraldic emblem.

40

A Medieval Equestrian Harness Pendant 15th century Northern Europe Copper alloy and polychrome enamels 3.7 cm / 1.46 in PROVENANCE Private collection, United Kingdom

T

he Unicorn is described in medieval literature as being a very small creature akin to a young goat, but one that moved so rapidly that no hunter could catch it. It could, however, be trapped: a virgin could pacify a unicorn. The mythical creature, here a rampant unicorn in white, green and red enamels, also became an allegory of Christ: its horn represented Christ’s words, ‘The Father and I are One.’ Furthermore, its speed meant that, ‘like Christ, neither principalities, nor powers, nor thrones, nor dominions could keep up with him, nor could Hell contain him, nor could the most subtle Devil prevail to catch him.’

41

An Exceptional French Casket c. 1600 – 1610 North-Eastern France, probably Lorraine Fruitwood, silver, brass, iron, gold and mother-of-pearl 19.6 cm / 7.75 in × 48.2 cm / 19 in × 31.4 cm / 12.37 in The lock a 19 th century addition PROVENANCE Likely from the Earls of Rosebery, Mentmore Towers, Buckinghamshire Peter Finer, UK, 1970s R.A. Lee, UK, 1980s Daniel Katz, UK, 1990s Bernheimer Ltd, Germany, 1990s Peter Finer, UK, 1990s Thomas J. Perkins, USA

T

his inlaid ornament on this gunstock maker’s casket is both lavish and yet strikingly delicate.

Mother-of-pearl plaques predominately take the form of small animals and birds, but the sides of the box are inlaid with oval panels of mother-of-pearl that represent the allegories of the Continents personified as female figures: a figure with a bow and beast represents America; Europe is accompanied by a horse, symbolising supremacy in war; an allegorical representation of Africa is depicted with an elephant and Asia, with a camel. These four allegories are surrounded by snails, sphinxes, birds, bees, rabbits and hunting dogs. Grotesques and figural subjects from classical mythology and European folklore appear elsewhere, in figures representing Abundance, Hercules, Samson, sphinxes, winged cherubs and unicorns.

The source of the ornament can ultimately be traced to the engraved designs of Étienne Delaune (1519-83) as well as to subsequent exponents of the so-called ‘Northern Renaissance Grotesque.’ The fretwork key escutcheon, with its winged monster motifs, is very close to Delaune’s published engraved work, and that of Cornelis Bos, each of which was extremely influential in French decorative art in the latter part of the 16th century.

It is interesting to speculate for whom this casket was made: the allegorical figures were carefully selected, and the predominant figures of Mars and the allegories of the Continents suggests a soldier or diplomat of would-be world-wide renown. The figure of Mars, God of War, in his chariot drawn by his two horses Phobos and Deimos (Fear and Panic) is personified as a renaissance warrior prince within an elaborate panoply of arms and flags.

These laid inlay designs and techniques can be closely compared with the inlaid work on French gunstocks dating from the late 16th century and beginning of the 17th century. This use of inlaid brass and silver wire scrollwork, enriched with engraved mother-of-pearl plaques, is characteristic in particular of the sumptuous stocks produced in North-Eastern France for luxury wheel-lock pistols and sporting guns. The larger plaques are oval in shape too, perhaps an indication that the craftsman who made the casket was not accustom to producing inlaid work for large rectangular spaces, but rather long narrow gunstocks.

As the interior fittings of the box have been removed, possibly at the time when the early 19th century English lock was inserted, it is not possible to be

certain what the box originally contained. The work on the engraved key escutcheon can be compared with the brass overlaid work on some of the arms from the Armoury of the Saxon Electors at Dresden.

In size and quality, the casket can be compared with the caskets and cabinets made for princely Kunstkammern such as survive from the Grünes Gewolbe in Dresden.

Similar work also appears on a range of early firearms from this region, almost all of which are now preserved in museum collections: among these, examples include a late 16th century petronel in the collection of the Royal Armouries, Leeds (XII.1548), a wheel-lock pistol from the collection of Louis XIII, now in the Victoria & Albert Museum (M.488-1927), and a holster pistol formerly in the R. T. Gwynn Collection. Further excellent examples are in The Wallace Collection, London (A1179), in The Waddesdon Manor Collection (cat. no. 134), and a sporting gun the Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum (The Scott Collection). Examples of inlaid powderflasks complementing the firearms of this eastern French school are preserved in Waddesdon also (cat. no. 172), in the Philadelphia Art Museum (Kienbusch no. 720) and in the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva (n. 613a).

42

A Rare Small-Sword c. 1750 – 60 Germany Gilt-brass, silver, copper, steel, enamel and polychrome pigments 89 cm / 35 in PROVENANCE Private collection, France

B

y the middle of the 18th century the hilts of smallswords had become refined to the degree of being the equivalent of jewellery: these swords were now carried as an essential wardrobe accessory to gentlemanly dress. This is exemplified by the present sword, which would have been at home promenading down the Unter der Linden or in a salon at a fashionable spa.

The hilt is a singularly Germanic variation, and constructed with a single loop-guard rather than the conventional and possibly awkward to wear double shell-guard. Similarly, the lavish rococo scrollwork ornament cast in fire-gilt brass is heightened with encrusted silver detail in the German fashion, and provides a perfect match with the deluxe white enamel grip. Typically, the grip is colourfully painted in the manner of fine porcelain, involving a series of small flowering sprigs enclosing a central rococo framework front and back. Very unusually each of these is filled with an amusing pug dog walking as a human allegory on its hind legs, the outer animal equipped as a town nightwatchman and the inner as a huntsman. These light-hearted vignettes would have been inspired by published engravings of the period. A long slender blade in the fashionable Spanish style complements the hilt and in pre-dating the hilt in fact adds an air of genuine menace.

Another small-sword hilt of this type, of comparable high quality, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (142-1889).

43

A Fine Presentation Hunting-Sword Mid-19th century France, Paris Iron, steel and leather 71 cm / 27.9 in Signed on the scabbard locket by the fourbisseur or cutler Verdier, No. 102 Rue Richelieu The blade engraved with the maker’s signature Coulaux aîne d’Comp a Klingenthal PROVENANCE Private collection, France

T

here can be little doubt that the design for this imaginative fantasy of ‘the chase’ found inspiration both in the South German carved ivory and horn hilts of the third quarter of the 17th century and in the published highly graphic hunt engravings of the artist Jean-Claude Tissot. The leading historical exponents of this German baroque school of high-relief carving were the virtuosos Johann Michael and Christoph Maucher of Schwäbisch-Gmünd. Among their wide range of carved luxury wares the Mauchers specialised in producing hilts for hunting swords, introducing exotic beasts such as elephants, lions and leopards which were of course entirely foreign to the European hunt. Another notable historic example of this fashion is the hunting-sword with a carved rhinoceros horn hilt in Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen, made circa 1650 for Christian V of Denmark.

In the Maucher tradition the design of the present hilt, an astonishing achievement in iron carved in the round, without inhibition involves an elephant at the apex of its grip, held at bay by a frenzied upward spiral of entwined snarling hounds. The second element of the hilt uses the opposing bolting bodies of a stag and a boar again attacked by hounds to form a horizontal crosspiece.

French hunting-swords or hangers of elaborate designs such as this were enthusiastically received at the great ‘industrial’ exhibitions which took place

in London and Paris during the mid-19th century. The present sword is signed on the scabbard locket by the fourbisseur or cutler, ‘Verdier, No. 102 Rue Richelieu’. He is perhaps related to a Paris fourbisseur of the same name recorded working at 82 rue des Filles Thomas, 1798-1808. The blade is engraved with the maker’s signature, ‘Coulaux aîne d’Comp a Klingenthal’, members of the renowned dynastic family of bladesmiths established in Klingenthal in the Alsace.

44

A Pair of Serpentine Appliqués Late 17th – 18th century Central or Eastern Europe Iron 52 cm / 20.5 in × 73 cm / 28.7 in PROVENANCE Private collection, USA

F

ormed as an opposing pair of serpents tightly looped and coiled in representation of ‘concertina’ movement, each of these iron works is constructed almost entirely from a single piece of very light-gauge iron hammered to hollow-convex section.

The symbolic menace inherent in the monstrous heads of these creatures is accentuated over the length of their bodies by naturalistic creases and undulations, and this embossing gives chilling emphasis to their replicated movement. The realistic

multi-dimensional rendition of iron grotesques such as this immediately recalls the earlier use of appliques in the graphic decoration of the finest German horse armour within the ‘High Gothic’ period of the late 15th century.

Probably the best surviving example of this use of embossed iron exists in the applied large dragon which extends over the rear portion (the crupper) of the horse armour made for the Emperor Friedrich III in 1477; the dragon’s head which provides an elaborate

opening to the tailpiece and the rows of triangular teeth exposed in its gaping maw closely resemble those of the present serpents (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, A 69).

Another applique, again comparable, is the monster which similarly forms an extended tailpiece on the crupper of the Gothic horse armour made for a member of the Ducal Anhalt-Zerbst family (Royal Armouries, Leeds, VI. 379).

www.peterfiner.com