Kohl Flask (sormedan)
Kohl Flask
800-900 (cast)
800-900 (cast)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
A small bottle with an ovoid body standing on three leg,s the extremities of which resemble feet. The ovoid body sits in a well at the top of the legs. The tops of the legs have projecting mouldings which may once have been, according to Melikian-Chirvani, in the form of roosting birds. The bodies of two are pierced. The body is decorated by three semicircular arches moulded in high relief resting on projecting knops at the point of tangency. (Semicircular arches are not found on wares later than the 8th or 9th century). Engraved decoration on the body almost erased by wear. It included large fleur-de-lys designs with circular lateral lobes and cusped central lobes wedged between the arches.The piece is completed with a tubular neck and a flat everted rim.
Patina an ashen olive colour.
Patina an ashen olive colour.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Kohl Flask (sormedan) (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Cast brass with engraved decoration, faint traces of black composition inlay. |
| Brief description | A small ovoid bottle standing on three legs. |
| Physical description | A small bottle with an ovoid body standing on three leg,s the extremities of which resemble feet. The ovoid body sits in a well at the top of the legs. The tops of the legs have projecting mouldings which may once have been, according to Melikian-Chirvani, in the form of roosting birds. The bodies of two are pierced. The body is decorated by three semicircular arches moulded in high relief resting on projecting knops at the point of tangency. (Semicircular arches are not found on wares later than the 8th or 9th century). Engraved decoration on the body almost erased by wear. It included large fleur-de-lys designs with circular lateral lobes and cusped central lobes wedged between the arches.The piece is completed with a tubular neck and a flat everted rim. Patina an ashen olive colour. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Object history | Bought from Monsieur Jules Richard by Major Robert Murdoch Smith for 2s 6d on 22nd December 1875. Historical significance: One of the earliest pieces from Islamic Iran in any Western institution. Although different in scale and additional details, its profile compares with that of an 8th century ewer in Kabul Museum. The flask also compares with a tripod pouring-vessel found in a cache at Maymana, Eastern Khorasan, probably dated 8th or 9th century. A piece of indentical shape with similar birds appeared in Kabul market in November 1976. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Bibliographic reference | Melikian-Chirvani,A.S. Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World. London:HMSO, 1982. p42. ISBN 0 11 290252 9 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 527-1876 |
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| Record created | January 28, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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