The shape of this vessel is typical of the Mamluk period, the era from 1250 to 1517 when the Muslim Mamluk dynasty ruled Egypt and Syria. Such vessels were used primarily to contain water. However, this example is decorated in a style known as ‘Veneto-Saracenic’. This type of metalwork has been the subject of ongoing scholarly debate as to whether it was produced in Venice or in Mamluk Syria and Egypt, and by Muslim or Venetian metalworkers. Venice during this period traded, and fought, extensively with the Turkish and Arab empires that bordered the Mediterranean basin. Venetian merchants brought to the city Near Eastern craftsmen and goods, which had an immediate influence on the indigenous population and eventually on the rest of Europe. But according to some recent research, there is no concrete evidence to state that such metalwork can be attributed to Muslim craftsmen working in 15th-century Venice, especially since the Venetian guild system would not have tolerated foreign craftsmen. It has also been suggested that two groups can be distinguished within the decorative repertoire of Veneto-Saracenic ware: one that can be attributed to Damascus and the other to Cairo. The linear use of inlay, the background decoration of scrolling stems, and the areas highlighted in silver on this basin all suggest that it belongs to the group made in Cairo in the 15th century.