The Buckley Ewer
- Object:
- Place of origin:
Egypt (possibly, made)
Iran (possibly, made)
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
- Materials and Techniques:
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
Islamic Middle East, room 42, case 1W
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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 (production)
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 [Jameel Gallery]
Production Note
This piece seems a close imitation of rock-crystal ewers, possibly cut in the same workshops in Cairo. SC 1992
Materials
Glass
Techniques
Cutting
Categories
Containers; Glass
Collection code
MES
