An Ottoman engraved carnelian taxation seal within European gold brooch setting, probably Mount Lebanon, Syria, dated 1066AH/ 1655-56AD, of oval form, with two lines of strong thuluth script on a ground of flowers, inscribed "Maktu'ah i Kibtian i Muslim fi 660/ Siri (Tax of the Muslim Copts in 660 or 1066./ Sirri," 3cm. diam. Provenance: Acquired by Eric Crowe, son of diplomat Sir Eyre Crowe (1864-1925), when he was posted to Tehran as a British diplomat between 1939-41 and thence by descent to Sir Brian Crowe (1938-2020) and family. There is a reference (and image of) to this seal, or one identical, in E. Marushiakova and V. Zakhariev, Gipsies in the Ottoman Empire, University of Hertfordshire Press, 2001, p. 40, which states that a carnelian seal with an identical inscription was bought by J.McG. Dawkins in 1924 in Constantinople. This seal appears to be a taxation seal, used to in relation to the payment of maqtu’ by the Gypsy community in the year 66. Based on the finely engraved floral scrolls in the background, this is probably AH 1066. Maqtu’ is an Ottoman tax on non-Muslim subjects similar to the Jiziya and paid yearly as a lump sum by specific communities. In the context of Ottoman administrative archives, the word Qibt (Copt) appears to refer to Gypsies (Elena Marushiakova et al., Gypsies in the Ottoman Empire: A Contribution to the History of the Balkans, 2001, p.29 and p.40 for a reading of the inscription). Please refer to department for condition report