Ottoman Ceremonial Mace (Bulawa)

Ottoman Transylvania, early 17th century
Silver gilt, silvered metal, wood
83cm long
Stock no.: A5914
Provenance: Italian noble family by descent.

Make an enquiry +44 (0)20 7937 4422

Ottoman Ceremonial Mace (Bulawa)

--Select a country-- Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo (DRC) Cook Islands Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Islands Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern and Antarctic Lands Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong SAR Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libye Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau SAR Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russia Rwanda Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain Sri Lanka St. Helena St. Kitts And Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands Virgin Islands, British Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zaire Zambia Zimbabwe

 

SEND

Success:

Email sent successfully

A long ceremonial mace or bulawa made in the Principality of Transylvania (1570-1711), an Ottoman vassal state ruled by Hungarian princes. The round shaft is decorated with a fine silver mesh, creating a braided effect. Four silver gilt plaques are wrapped around the shaft, decorated with floral arabesques. Unlike the traditional Ottoman flanged mace or buzogan (see, for example, accession no. 36.25.2958 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art), the head is a upturned pear shape.
Comparative examples are held in several Northern European Royal collections, suggesting that such maces were given as diplomatic gifts or looted on the battlefield. An example in the National Museum of Denmark (accession no. 94491) was held in the Royal Danish Kunstkammer founded by King Frederik III in c. 1650 until its dissolution in 1825. It measures 74.5cm long and dates to c. 1600 to 1650. Another dated to c. 1600 is held in the Dresden Armoury (accession no. Y 0388), which contains the collection of the Dukes of Saxony. This example, though only 59.9cm long, shares similarities such as the textured handle and the palmette shape of the applied silver gitl panels. Two are held in the Livrustkammaren, the Royal Armoury of Sweden. One is dated to c. 1600 and attributed to Eastern Europe (accession no. 10016_LRK). Its final owner was Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna (1583-1654), Count of Södermöre and Lord High Chancellor of Sweden. The other is dated to 1575-1600 and was used in the coronation of King Karl X Gustav (accession no. 8998_LRK) and was used in his coronation. A mace in the State Museum of Baden, Karlsruhe (accession no. 2006/1001), belonged to the Margraves of Baden, southern Germany. has a near-identical shaft. Though the head of the mace was replace with a crown in 1811, the shaft is similar, with four gilt plaques and the mesh-covered shaft. The base of the mace is stamped with the mark of Bartholomäus Igell, a goldsmith working in Braşov, Transylvania, in c. 1625.

n.b. accession nos are clickable links