FINELY ENGRAVED CANDLESTICK - The Embden Collection Renaissance, “Veneto-Saracenic,” mid-16th century. Brass intricately engraved and inlaid with geometric silver fillets and silver inlay. Decorated with stylized leaves, tendrils, and arabesques. Vase-shaped shaft with unidentified family crest, spacer ending in a large round base. H 17 cm, Ø 15.5 cm. Traces of oxidation. Small dents to the edges and slightly uneven base. Repair to the underside. Provenance: The Arlette and Antony Embden Collection, France. The term “Veneto-Saracenic” describes a series of metalworks that were initially created under Islamic influence in Mamluk art centers, mainly in Egypt and Syria, during the 14th–16th centuries and were then imported to the lagoon city through Venetian trade relations. For reasons of convention, such pieces have therefore been described as “Veneto-Saracenic” since the 19th century. Characteristic of this type of object are the intricately intertwined brass, copper, silver, and occasionally gold inlays. The objects include bowls, spherical incense burners (see Koller Auctions Zurich, November 2, 2011, lot 491), candlesticks, and basket handles. The typical decoration features arabesques, non-figurative Islamic geometric patterns, which are amalgamated with Venetian or European forms. Due to the vagueness of the term “Veneto-Saracenic”, it has undergone a scientific reinterpretation since the 1970s. In the 19th century, the common opinion was that Muslim craftsmen produced their metalwork directly in Venice. However, this assumption has been increasingly questioned, not least because the Venetian guild system hardly tolerated foreign craftsmen. New research suggests that many of these objects were originally made in Cairo, Damascus, and even Iran in the first generation and only then exported to Europe. In Europe, they served as models for local imitations. The exchange between the trading power of Venice and the Mamluks, who controlled the transport of goods and the spice trade between Europe and Southeast Asia between 1250 and 1517, is therefore not surprising. In an article published in 2004 (Renaissance Venice, Islam and Mahmud the Kurd – a metalworking enigma. London 2004), researcher Sylvia Auld questions this cultural transfer and distinguishes between three groups of “Veneto-Saracenic” metalwork. Group A comprises genuine Mamluk works from Egypt or Syria. The second group is associated with the craftsman Mahmud al-Kurdi and his workshop. His artistic name is linked to the finest metalwork of the 15th century, which brought the Muslim tradition of craftsmanship to a peak with European aesthetics. For a long time, it was believed that this artist worked in Venice. However, the latest research has disproved this theory. Finally, Sylvia Auld outlines the third group, C, to which our objects (lot numbers 1099, 1100 & 1101) belong. The last group is characterized by the production of Islamic-inspired metalwork in Italy. The decoration and style are therefore inspired by genuine Islamic objects. An identical example from the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (inv. no. 558-1865) can be cited as a comparison for the candlestick on offer. The example from the V&A mentions the Jules Soulages (1803–1857) collection in Toulouse as the provenance for the candlestick. The Soulages collection catalog indicates that there were three pairs of such candlesticks in his collection (Sir John Charles Robinson: Catalogue of the Soulages Collection: being a descriptive inventory of a collection of works of decorative art formerly in the possession of M. Jules Soulages of Toulouse. London 1857, Nos. 343, 344 & 345). It is assumed that these candlesticks were made by the same master craftsman. Whether the candlestick on offer was part of Jules Soulages' collection cannot be answered conclusively. However, its similarity to the V&A example suggests that it was. Further comparative pieces are illustrated and described by Sylvia Auld, including an additional one from the V&A (inv. no. 553-1865), one in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh (inv. no. 1877 20-48) and one from the MET New York (inv. no. 17.190.637). * The full tax is charged on this item marked *, i.e. VAT is charged on the sum will be refunded to Purchasers providing a validly stamped export declaration.