An Ottoman gem-set aventurine cup, Turkey, 18th century

Christie's London, 5 October 2012, lot 793

This elegant cup decorated with gemstones set into gold mounts is a fine example of the Ottoman taste for luxury. Inlaying hardstones was practised for centuries but became particularly popular in the Ottoman court from the end of the fifteenth century. The earliest known jades inlaid with gold are a selection of cups listed in an inventory for the Treasury of Bayezid II dated to 1505 (see Rogers 1995, p.196, no.132; and Rogers and Ward 1988, nos. 63 & 71). So popular was this technique that it can be noted on all manner of objects including vessels, jewellery and weapons. For an impressive Ottoman gem-set casket dated to the sixteenth-seventeenth century, with hardstone plaques decorated in a comparable manner sold in these rooms, see Sotheby’s London, 7 October 2009, lot 192. Another Ottoman gem-set jade mirror dated to seventeenth/eighteenth century with similar gem-setting sold at Sotheby’s London, 7 October 2015, lot 414.

For a sixteenth century Ottoman gem-set gold-inlaid jade pendant in the present sale, see lot 235.