Mamluk Pilgrim Flask
Mamluk Pilgrim Flask
Near East or Egypt
mid-13th to mid-14th Century A.D., Mamluk
Glass
Diam:8cm
£25,000
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A blown glass pilgrim flask with a flat circular body leading to a short neck and everted lip. Moulded decoration covers the faces and sides, enamelled in red and green with gilded outlines. On each face a central quadrilobed floral motif is framed by arabesques in a symmetrical pattern around the circle. The sides are adorned with a series of fleur-de-lys – an early Mamluk blazon that is featured on coins and war drums, as well as personal objects like combs. Polychromatic iridescence has formed across the surface of the glass.
Enamelling on glass was first developed in the Syrian region, probably at Raqqa; recent research has moved the earliest date of its production to the last two decades of the 12th century or the early 13th century. After the Mamluks made Cairo the official capital of their empire, glassmakers at Fustat soon became active. The mid-13th century has been referred to as the ‘golden age’ of gilding and enamelling on Islamic glass and, by the 14th century, most enamelled glass was probably produced in Egypt. Enamelling required a sophisticated control over the temperature of the wood-fuelled kilns of the medieval period, which had to remain consistent for prolonged periods in order to fix the different colours to the glass surface. Throughout the following centuries of Mamluk rule, glass production expanded into a wide range of different forms adapted from metalwork, pottery, leather, and ivory, and dimensions were increased dramatically. Small, portable enamelled and gilded glassware, such as this flask, was produced mainly towards the earlier period of the Mamluk Sultanate (1250-1517). Initially, many different colours were used together, but by the time Nāṣir Muḥammad ibn Qalāūn (r. 1293-1341 A.D.) came to power, a more controlled palette of red and blue with gold outlines was the standard. This period is also typified by a more orthodox restriction of decorative motifs to the vegetal and aniconic.
Collection of Antonin ‘Tony’ Bernard Besse (1927-2016) and Christiane Besse (1928-2021), Paris, most likely acquired in Lebanon in the 1960s or early 1970s.
Thence by descent to Antonin Louis Besse (b. 1958) and Joy-Isabelle Besse (b. 1959).
ALR: S00231178, with IADAA Certificate, this item has been checked against the Interpol database.
The Besse family collection started with Antonin ‘Tony’ Bernard Besse’s father, Sir Antonin Besse (1877-1951), who began acquiring objects in the early 20th century. Many items from Sir Antonin’s collection are now in the British Museum. Besse built his wealth through the company he founded in Aden, A. Besse & Co., which served as an agent for many international insurance, airline, and shipping companies. He also worked as the agent of Royal Dutch Shell. Besse brought great energy and drive to his business, as captured by Evelyn Waugh in the character of Monsieur le Blanc in Scoop. In 1949, Besse donated funds to the University of Oxford for St Antony’s College, requesting that it welcome foreign students, with no test of political, racial, or religious beliefs to determine entry. His hardworking ethos and his passion for education were passed down to his son Tony.
Tony and his sister grew up in occupied France, raised by their English nanny after their parents escaped to Aden in 1941. Tony began running errands for the Resistance, including stealing German weapons and equipment, and awaiting covert supply drops from Allied aircraft. This was a risky endeavour: once, his sister had to sit on a stolen German gun to hide it while his house was searched, and on another occasion, Tony was captured by an Italian officer, who let him run due to his youth and the fact the officer had known Tony’s father in Somalia. Tony was even expelled from school for standing up and shouting at the Headmaster, who was a supporter of the Vichy regime. After the war, Tony began working for the family business but found he was unsuited to the comforts of office life. He soon left to New York, where he made his living as a taxi driver. After his father’s death in 1951, Tony returned to Aden and took over A. Besse & Co.. Here he met Christiane, who was working as a journalist in Yemen at the time. They married in 1957.
During this period, the couple expanded their antiquities collection. Tony would frequently dive with Jacques Cousteau in the early days of sub-aqua, and gather Greek and Roman treasures off the Turkish coast. Antonin Louis and Joy-Isabella attribute a large part of the success of their parents’ collecting endeavours to Christiane’s erudition and uncanny foresight. After her death, they discovered that she had procured export certificates from the government in Aden in the early 1960s – a level of documentation that was highly unusual for this time. These documents saved the collection during the events of the Aden Emergency, and the children and the collection found a safe harbour in Europe. Tony and Christiane moved to Beirut, where they continued to follow their passion for antiquities. They collected diversely, acquiring alabaster bulls and busts alongside delicate Roman glass, small bronze animals, marble statues of goddesses, and Byzantine mosaics. When the civil war began in Lebanon in 1975, the couple left the Middle East and ceased adding new items to their collection.
Tony is also remembered for his philanthropic activity, including donating the funds for the purchase of St Donat’s castle and estate for Atlantic College in 1960. He served as the founding chair of the International Board of United World Colleges, and worked closely with them throughout his life. Christiane started a new career as a literary translator in the 1980s, and worked with authors such as James Baldwin, William Boyd, William Shawcross, Amitav Ghosh, and Maya Angelou. She went on to establish her own publishing company in Paris, Editions Philippe Rey.
