SILVER EMBOSSED AND CHASED HOST BOX, CIRCA 1751 - Lot 159

SILVER EMBOSSED AND CHASED HOST BOX, CIRCA 1751 Exceptional little poly-lobed box with a schematic cross-section of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on the top. Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, with oil lamps under arcatures on the first floor, bells above, domes topped by a cross, and Adam's skull in the center (Golgotha, the place of the skull). On the underside, a sailing ship with a Christian flag, corresponding to a Venetian polacre. It appears to be sailing from Istanbul, symbolized by the circle at the stern of the ship (the city wall enclosing the 7 hills), to Jerusalem, symbolized by the domes and the Christian flag. This iconography refers to the pilgrimage of the wealthy Yagoup Amira Hovhanessian to Jerusalem in 1751. The magnificence and pomp of this pilgrimage had a great impact on the Armenian world. Yagoup Amira rented a Venetian sailing ship and spent considerable sums on gifts for the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Monastery of St. James: gold and silver lamps, chandeliers, incense burners and communion bowls, etc. Our box was made for the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Monastery of St. James. Our box may have been made for Yagoup Amira's personal use, or offered by him to some religious member of the patriarchate. Armenian work, 18th century. 2.5 x 6 x 4.5 cm. This box will be reproduced in Arsen Yarman's forthcoming book Jewelry and Armenian Goldsmiths Under the Ottomans (see lot 127 in this catalog).