Ewer
late 17th century (made), 19th century (made)
The ceramic body of the ewer is the lower part of a Chinese blue-and-white porcelain vessel that falls into the broad category of chang jing ping (长颈瓶 ), or long-necked vase. It was adapted into a ewer for serving chilled liquids by adding copper alloy mounts, both internal and external. The external mounts consist of a spout; a handle; a tall neck, which is waisted and has a prominent moulding in the middle; and a domed lid with a finial, which is set with a stone seal matrix engraved in negative with a religious inscription in Arabic. The handle has a small, lidded opening at the top to allow liquids to be poured into the ewer. This was necessary because the opening at the neck was used for inserting ice into the body of the vessel, where it was contained by an internal cylinder of copper alloy, closed at the base and open at the top.
The external mounts have engraved decoration. On the lid and neck, these include an extensive programme of inscriptions in Arabic and Persian. On the lid, there are four cartouches containing one of two invocations to God in Arabic, and around the rim there are three couplets from the beginning of a mystic devotional hymn in Persian by the poet Hatif Isfahani.
Around the rim of the neck is a quotation from the surah al-Qalam (The Pen; LXVIII, verses 51-52), followed by a prayer in Arabic. Below this is a wide band containing the first part of the Shi'ite prayer, "Call upon 'Ali". This is framed above and below by two narrow bands containing a further five couplets from the hymn by Hatif. At the end of the lower band is the date, "in the month of Sha'ban al-Mu'azzam of the year 1027", equivalent to the period 24 July to 21 August 1618. The year 1027 is repeated in the wider band above, over the last word in the prayer, "Call upon 'Ali". The date must be spurious (see below).
The external mounts have engraved decoration. On the lid and neck, these include an extensive programme of inscriptions in Arabic and Persian. On the lid, there are four cartouches containing one of two invocations to God in Arabic, and around the rim there are three couplets from the beginning of a mystic devotional hymn in Persian by the poet Hatif Isfahani.
Around the rim of the neck is a quotation from the surah al-Qalam (The Pen; LXVIII, verses 51-52), followed by a prayer in Arabic. Below this is a wide band containing the first part of the Shi'ite prayer, "Call upon 'Ali". This is framed above and below by two narrow bands containing a further five couplets from the hymn by Hatif. At the end of the lower band is the date, "in the month of Sha'ban al-Mu'azzam of the year 1027", equivalent to the period 24 July to 21 August 1618. The year 1027 is repeated in the wider band above, over the last word in the prayer, "Call upon 'Ali". The date must be spurious (see below).
Object details
| Object type | |
| Brief description | Ewer for serving chilled drinks, made in Iran in the 19th century by adapting a Chinese blue and white porcelain vessel of the late 17th century with mounts of copper alloy, the external mounts with engraved decoration, the finial of the lid set with an engraved stone seal. |
| Physical description | The ceramic body of the ewer is the lower part of a Chinese blue-and-white porcelain vessel that falls into the broad category of chang jing ping (长颈瓶 ), or long-necked vase. It was adapted into a ewer for serving chilled liquids by adding copper alloy mounts, both internal and external. The external mounts consist of a spout; a handle; a tall neck, which is waisted and has a prominent moulding in the middle; and a domed lid with a finial, which is set with a stone seal matrix engraved in negative with a religious inscription in Arabic. The handle has a small, lidded opening at the top to allow liquids to be poured into the ewer. This was necessary because the opening at the neck was used for inserting ice into the body of the vessel, where it was contained by an internal cylinder of copper alloy, closed at the base and open at the top. The external mounts have engraved decoration. On the lid and neck, these include an extensive programme of inscriptions in Arabic and Persian. On the lid, there are four cartouches containing one of two invocations to God in Arabic, and around the rim there are three couplets from the beginning of a mystic devotional hymn in Persian by the poet Hatif Isfahani. Around the rim of the neck is a quotation from the surah al-Qalam (The Pen; LXVIII, verses 51-52), followed by a prayer in Arabic. Below this is a wide band containing the first part of the Shi'ite prayer, "Call upon 'Ali". This is framed above and below by two narrow bands containing a further five couplets from the hymn by Hatif. At the end of the lower band is the date, "in the month of Sha'ban al-Mu'azzam of the year 1027", equivalent to the period 24 July to 21 August 1618. The year 1027 is repeated in the wider band above, over the last word in the prayer, "Call upon 'Ali". The date must be spurious (see below). |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Object history | Although they lack any direct reference to the context in which this ewer was used, the inscriptions it bears are religious in character. It may be that it was adapted for serving chilled drinks as a pious act. This form of charity is practised in other parts of the Islamic world, but in Iran and in other Shi'ite communities it is seen as a commemoration of the selfless actions of 'Abbas ibn 'Ali at the battle of Karbala' in AD 680, as related by Shi'ite tradition. The battle occurred when the forces of the Umayyad caliph Yazid attacked the third imam, Husayn ibn 'Ali, and his followers, who included Husayn's half-brother, 'Abbas ibn 'Ali. Yazid's forces deliberately cut Husayn's party off from the River Euphrates, the only source of water. To relieve the thirst of Husayn's family, 'Abbas forced his way through to the river to fill a water skin but was killed during his return journey. (See V&A: 555-1878 for further evidence of the connection with 'Abbas ibn 'Ali.) The inscriptions include a date, "in the month of Sha'ban al-Mu'azzam of the year 1027", equivalent to the period 24 July to 21 August 1618. This is clearly spurious as the inscriptions include quotations from a long mystic poem by Hatif Isfahani, who flourished in the 18th century. Adding the date was probably an attempt to associate the ewer with the reign of Shah 'Abbas I (1588-1629), considered a golden age. Other ewers of this type in the V&A include 467 and 468-1874, 1123-1876, 555-1878, 637-1889, C.217- and C.220-1912. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 476-1876 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
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