Ottoman pencil case - Lot 374

Ottoman pencil case Steel, tortoiseshell, leather scabbard on wood core and silver nielloed Ottoman Empire, 17th century L. 21.4 cm Kits containing various knives or tools, of which a number of examples are known, were popular in the Ottoman world. This one, with its finely nielloed decoration, has the particularity of bearing a Germanic-sounding owner's name "Huffenberg" added later in Western letters, as well as a transcription of this name in Arabic letters. A small niello cartouche, difficult to decipher, may correspond to a date. The decoration is finely engraved in silver on the mounts, with plant motifs whose flowers are enhanced with niel. It includes a two-pronged fork and a knife whose blade is embossed with a star. The inscriptions, style and period of manufacture of this refined object are very much in the same spirit as those taken during the siege of Vienna.