AN OTTOMAN GILT-COPPER (TOMBAK) EWER, TURKEY, 18TH CENTURY

A Tombak ewer of pyriform shape, with hinged dome cover, ringed neck and serpentine handle, "s" shaped spout with flutes at the base, engraved with vertical flutes containing stylized leafy details, the lid with pine-shaped terminal.
Height: 38 cm.

CATALOGUE NOTE
Tombak wares became particularly popular during the eighteenth and nineteenth century for their gold-like quality (Petsopoulos 1982, pp.33-35). During Ottoman times it was considered inappropriate for vessels in solid gold to be used for utilitarian purposes; copper-gilt (tombak) wares were preferred instead. A number of tombak objects from the royal kitchenware are now in the Topkapi Palace Museum, including a sherbet pitcher, a rose-water sprinkler and a ewer comparable in form to the present piece (Istanbul 1986, pp.43-45, pl.2 and pl.3). Tombak manufacture entailed applying gold leaf and mercury to amalgam-gilded copper.