Ewer thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Ewer

1350-1450 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Ewers supported on a pedestal foot began to appear about 1500 and the decoration on this ewer is typical of the brass work made in Venice in the period 1500-1550. The decorative techniques and motifs were influenced by the objects Venetian merchants brought back to the city when trading with the Arab and Turkish empires that bordered the Mediterranean.

Venetian brass work was almost always engraved and often inlaid with silver wire (now missing on this example). The decoration was extensive, often covering the whole surface of the object. It featured the arabesque pattern that was based on a stylised plant with a winding stem. Here the maker has combined the Islamic arabesque with coats of arms, which suggests that the patron might have been a wealthy aristocrat.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Brass, engraved and formerly inlaid with silver
Brief description
Middle East, Metalwork. Ewer with splayed foot, rounded body, straight spout, curved handle and a lid surmounted by a bird, brass with engraved decoration in horizontal registers of foliate scrollwork, roundels, cruciforms and reciprocal trefoil arcading, Egypt or Syria, 1350-1450
Physical description
Ewer with splayed foot, rounded body, straight spout, curved handle and a lid surmounted by a bird, brass with engraved decoration in horizontal registers of foliate scrollwork, roundels, cruciforms and reciprocal trefoil arcading
Dimensions
  • Height: 24cm
  • Width: 17cm
Style
Credit line
Given by Dr W L Hildburgh, FSA
Subjects depicted
Summary
Ewers supported on a pedestal foot began to appear about 1500 and the decoration on this ewer is typical of the brass work made in Venice in the period 1500-1550. The decorative techniques and motifs were influenced by the objects Venetian merchants brought back to the city when trading with the Arab and Turkish empires that bordered the Mediterranean.

Venetian brass work was almost always engraved and often inlaid with silver wire (now missing on this example). The decoration was extensive, often covering the whole surface of the object. It featured the arabesque pattern that was based on a stylised plant with a winding stem. Here the maker has combined the Islamic arabesque with coats of arms, which suggests that the patron might have been a wealthy aristocrat.
Bibliographic reference
Sylvia Auld, Renaissance Venice, Islam and Mahmud the Kurd. A metalworking enigma, 2004, no.8.4, p.294.
Collection
Accession number
M.43-1946

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Record createdMarch 11, 2003
Record URL
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