Ewer thumbnail 1
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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Islamic Middle East, Room 42, The Jameel Gallery

Ewer

8th century-10th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

A striking feature of this ewer is its dramatic sinous handle. Its visual impact is enhanced by the bold thumb-rest in the form of a palmette or stylised tree.

Ewers with pear-shaped bodies, as here, were produced in Iran in the centuries following the Islamic conquest in the 7th century. They continued the general form of metal ewers made by Iranian metalworkers under the Sasanian dynasty (ruled about AD 224 to 631) that preceded the Islamic conquest.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Cast bronze
Brief description
Cast brass ewer with a palmette thumb-rest, Iran (Khorasan), 8th-10th century.
Physical description
The ewer is cast in bronze and has a ovoid-shaped body on a low slanting foot. The waisted neck is separated from the main body by a thick rib halfway up. There is engraved decoration sparsely inlaid with copper. Heads of mythical birds encircle the neck, that had copper discs for eyes. Ewer has crozier shaped handle, the side facing the body is flat and decorated with five hemishperical beads. A palmette-shaped thumb-rest rises from the upper part of the handle. The neck is slightly ribbed. Engraved double arches with lotus-buds at their interstices form two bands at the top and bottom of these ribs. Overall patina dull olive yellow.
Dimensions
  • Height: 44cm
  • Without handle height: 36cm
  • Body diameter: 18.4cm
  • Underside (maximum) diameter: 11.9cm
Style
Gallery label
  • Jameel Gallery Ewer with Palmette Thumb-Rest Iran 700-1000 Ewers with pear-shaped bodies were produced in Iran in the centuries following the Islamic conquest in the 7th century. They continued the general form of metal ewers of the pre-Islamic Sasanian period. The visual impact of this example is enhanced by its bold thumb-rest in the form of a palmette or stylised tree. Brass with incised decoration under the base and copper inlaid around the neck Museum no. 434-1906(Jameel Gallery)
  • EWER Cast iron with remains of copper inlay PERSIAN (Khorasan); 8th century From a small group of ewers of which one example in the Historical Museum at Tbilissi is dated 686 or 688.(Used until 10/2002)
Historical context
By its elegant form, this pear-shaped bronze ewer with a large thumb-rest in the shape of a palmette relates to a group of less than seven pieces, which combine the Byzantine and Sasanian traditions. These ewers are all thought to have been made in the first centuries of Islam. The only one with an inscription is in the Museum of Tbilisi, in Georgia: it mentions the name of the artisan (Yazid) and the place of production (Basra), and the date, which has been read by some as 688-689, and by others as 882-883. Previously it had been assumed that such ewers were made in Khurasan or Central Asia, but on the basis of this inscription it likely that they should be reattributed to Abbasid Iraq. Ewers made in Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain) in the 10th and 11th centuries have a foreshortened version of the shape of these early ewers, and were perhaps modelled on imports that originated in the Abbasid world.
Summary
A striking feature of this ewer is its dramatic sinous handle. Its visual impact is enhanced by the bold thumb-rest in the form of a palmette or stylised tree.

Ewers with pear-shaped bodies, as here, were produced in Iran in the centuries following the Islamic conquest in the 7th century. They continued the general form of metal ewers made by Iranian metalworkers under the Sasanian dynasty (ruled about AD 224 to 631) that preceded the Islamic conquest.
Bibliographic references
  • Melikian-Chirvani, A.S. Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World, London: HMSO, 1982. p40. ISBN 0 11 290252 9
  • Pinder-Wilson,R. 'An Islamic ewer in Sasanian style', British Museum Quarterly, XXII 3/4. 1960. p90.
  • Delpont, Eric, Les Andalousies de Damas à Cordoue, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, 2000. p.33
  • 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.20, 31
Collection
Accession number
434-1906

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Record createdJanuary 14, 2003
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