Ewer - The Buckley Ewer - Victoria & Albert Museum

This splendid cut-glass piece is known as the Buckley Ewer, after a former owner. Its shape and decoration are based on silver ewers, including the decorative thumb-rest in the form of two small birds. However, it is also clearly related to prestigious contemporary ewers (Museum no. 7904-1862) carved from rock crystal for the Fatimid rulers of Egypt (969-1171).

Physical description

Ewer, cut glass, with decoration in high relief.

Place of Origin

Egypt (possibly, made)
Iran (possibly, made)

Date

950-1050 (made)

Artist/maker

Unknown

Materials and Techniques

Glass, cut

Dimensions

Height: 23.8 cm
Width: 9.7 cm (maximum)

Object history note

This piece seems a close imitation of rock-crystal ewers, possibly cut in the same workshops in Cairo. (SC 1992)

Known as the 'Buckley Ewer' after a previous owner, Wilfrid Buckley.

Descriptive line

Cut-glass ewer (the 'Buckley Ewer'), Iraq or Iran, 950-1050.

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

Tim Stanley ed., with Mariam Rosser-Owen and Stephen Vernoit, Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Middle East, London, V&A Publications, 2004, pp. 94-95, plate 107

Labels and date

Cut-Glass Ewer
Iraq or Iran
950-1050

The shape and decoration of this ewer are based on examples made in silver. The ewer is also clearly related to the rock-crystal ewer shown opposite, which is thought to be Egyptian. Indeed, the thumb-rest on the glass ewer shows how the missing thumb-rest on the rock-crystal ewer may have looked.

Glass, blown and wheel-cut

Museum no. C.126-1936

Attribution Note

This piece seems a close imitation of rock-crystal ewers, possibly cut in the same workshops in Cairo. SC 1992

Materials

Glass

Techniques

Cut

Collection code

MES

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