Ottoman Balkans Gilded Silver Cartridge Box

This box (known in Turkish as a palaska) is of repoussed, gilded silver sheet, and would have been used by a soldier or more likely, an officer, to store gun cartridges. It is from the Ottoman Balkans, most probably Serbia, Bulgaria, Bosnia or maybe Albania.

The front is repoussed with a mosque with four minarets surrounded by a leaf and floral border.

The reverse is decorated in relief with a large Sulaiman’s (Solomon’s) seal, four crescent moons and a pair of cypress trees.

The hinged lid is rounded and decorated with flowers in a trellis formation. The base and sides have related decoration.

There is a ring on each side of the box for suspension.

A related example attributed to Bosnia Herzegovina and probably dating to around 1800 is illustrated Elgood (2009, p. 122).

The example here is without splits or losses. Its age is clear.