Sphero-Conical Vessel

+39
images

On display

V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 137, The Curtain Foundation Gallery

This object consists of 85 parts, some of which may be located elsewhere.

Artist/Maker	Unknown
Place of origin	Iran (made) Rayy (found)

The function of the common and ubiquitous forms found throughout central Iran has not been adequately explained, the earliest explanation was that they were used as hand grenades.

Object details

Category	Ceramics
Object type	Sphero-conical vessel
Parts	This object consists of 85 parts. Sphero-Conical Vessel Fragment Fragment Sphero-Conical Vessel Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Tile Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment Fragment
Materials and techniques	Earthenware, moulded, stamped Earthenware Moulded Stamped
Brief description	Sphero-conical vessel, earthenware with moulded and stamped decoration, Eastern Iran, 900-1100
Physical description	Sphero-conical vessel, (grenade-like form), earthenware, moulded and stamped with decorative motifs
Dimensions	Length: 12cm Diameter: 11.5cm
Marks and inscriptions	Transliteration .
Object history	Taken from Museum Register: 'Fragments, Eighty-five pieces of pottery, glazed and unglazed, some moulded and stamped in relief; and, with them three pieces of glass vessels. Found in excavations on the site of the ancient destroyed city Rhages (Rhé) in Persia... Given by M. Richard.' Jules Florentin Richard (1816-1891) a French photographer arrived in Tehran in 1844, where he became an art-dealer/collector, selling many of his collections to Sir Major-General Robert Murdoch Smith, working on behalf of the Victoria and Albert Musem.
Summary	The function of the common and ubiquitous forms found throughout central Iran has not been adequately explained, the earliest explanation was that they were used as hand grenades.
Bibliographic reference	Richard Ettinghausen 'The Uses of Sphero-Conical Vessels in the Muslim East', Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 24, No. 3, Erich F. Schmidt Memorial Issue. Part One (Jul., 1965), pp. 218-229. Ghouchani, A. and C. Adle. A Sphero-Conical Vessel as Fuqqa'a, or a Gourd for "Beer". In Muqarnas IX: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture, Leiden: E.J. Brill,1992.
Collection	Middle East Section
Accession number	619:1-1878

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Record created	June 24, 2009
Record URL	https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O299176/sphero-conical-vessel-unknown/

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