Candlestick and bottle with polo players
Candlestick with polo players
Mid-13th century, Bergama, Turkey
Copper alloy with silver and gold inlay
Height: 20 cm, diameter: 19 cm
The main frieze of the base shows three round medallions with the enthroned ruler, flanked by standing courtiers and musicians. Between the medallions there are two equestrian figures each, who follow the hunt and the game of polo. One can recognize horsemen with falcons, bow and arrow, mace and polo mallets.
Bottle with polo players
c. 1300, Mamluks (Egypt, Syria)
Transparent honey colored glass, form blown, red, white, yellow, green, light and dark blue enamel and gold painting
Height 28.5 cm, diameter 19 cm
more about this bottle
In the center of this bulbous glass bottle is the large surrounding rider frieze painted in enamel and gold colors on the body of the bottle. This finds its counterweight in a golden-ground, formula-like writing band on the cylindrical bottle neck. Both friezes are bordered at the bottom by a narrow, gold-colored braided band. The shoulder is almost completely filled with filigree gold painting in the form of an animal frieze with hunting dogs and hares.
The twelve galloping riders, of which only one actually carries a polo stick, reflect the equestrian enthusiasm of the Mamluks (approx. 1250-1517) ruling in Egypt and Syria. The three red, five-petalled rosettes on the shoulder of the bottle point to the Rasulids as patrons who ruled Yemen at that time. The 'Polo Rider Bottle' is unique in its shape, its good condition and decoration. It is said to have been kept in China.
On the bottle, which was blown into a mould, coloured, finely ground glass or minerals mixed with oil were applied thinly to the surface with a brush. The piece was then reheated until the colors melted onto the glass surface, but the shape of the bottle did not change - a process that required a great deal of mastery of the kilns. The origins of enamel technology in Syria, its places of production and its further development in Syria and Egypt have not yet been satisfactorily researched.
(Text: SMB-digital, online collections database. Transl.: UiU)
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