The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Luxury Ewer Extending Good Fortune to the Owner

Luxury Ewer Extending Good Fortune to the Owner

1223
(Iraqi, Mosul, active early 1200s?)
Diameter: 26.6 cm (10 1/2 in.); Overall: 37.9 cm (14 15/16 in.); Diameter of base: 14.5 cm (5 11/16 in.)
Location: 116 Islamic

Did You Know?

Later owners roughly scratched their names into the neck of the ewer.

Description

This silver inlaid ewer was produced for luxury clientele. The wide band around the body of the vessel displays vignettes of daily and courtly life contained within multilobed medallions. Some of the scenes feature falconry, hunting, dancing, and several groups of musicians. All these scenes are set off against a skillfully executed arabesque background—a pervasive motif in Islamic art characterized by interwoven vegetal and curvilinear elements. An inscription around the ewer’s shoulder extends good fortune, prosperity, and peace to the owner. The ewer is dated 1223 and signed by the master craftsman Ahmad al-Dhaki of Mosul.
  • ?-1956
    (Raphaël Stora [1888–1963], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1956-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Rice, D. S. “Inlaid Brasses from the Workshop of Aḥmad Al-Dhakī Al-Mawṣilī.” Ars Orientalis, vol. 2, 1957, pp. 283–326. Mentioned and Reproduced: pls. 1-2, 4-5, 15a, 15d, 16f-g; p. 287, figs. 1-2; p. 288, fig. 3; p. 289, fig. 4a-b; p. 290, figs. 5a-b; p. 291, fig. 6; p. 292, fig. 10; p. 294, figs. 11-14; p. 296, figs. 15-18; p. 297, figs. 19-20; p. 300, figs. 25a-c www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 710 archive.org
    Milliken, William M. “Early Byzantine Silver.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 45, no. 3, 1958, pp. 35–94. Reproduced: p. 88 25142265
    Shepherd, Dorothy G. “An Early Inlaid Brass Ewer from Mesopotamia.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 46, no. 1, 1959, pp. 2, 4–10. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 2, 4-10 www.jstor.org
    Vaughan, Malcolm. "Fine Mesopotamian Metalwork." The Connoisseur: an illustrated magazine for collectors, June 1959. Mentioned
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 209 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 209 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 265 archive.org
    Shepherd, Dorothy G. “A Treasure from a Thirteenth-Century Spanish Tomb.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 65, no. 4, 1978, pp. 111–134. Mentioned: pp. 123, 133 www.jstor.org
    Makariou, Sophie. L'orient de Saladin: l'art des Ayyoubides: exposition présentée à l'Institut du monde arabe, Paris, du 23 octobre 2001 au 10 mars 2002. [Paris]: Institut du monde arabe, 2001. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 113, p. 140
    Kana'an, Ruba. "The Biography of a Thirteenth-century Brass Ewer from Mosul." In God Is Beautiful and Loves Beauty: The Object in Islamic Art and Culture, pp. 177-194. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press; Qatar: in association with the Qatar Foundation, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar, 2013. Reproduced: p. 180, fig. 156
    Blair, Sheila and Jonathan Bloom. God Is Beautiful and Loves Beauty: The Object in Islamic Art and Culture. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press; Qatar: in association with the Qatar Foundation, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar, 2013. Reproduced: fig. 156; p. 180
    Schick, Irvin Cemil. "The Content of Form: Islamic Calligraphy between Text and Representation." In Sign and Design: Script as Image in a Cross-Cultural Perspective (300-1600 CE) (Symposium). Brigitte Bedos-Rezak, and Jeffrey F. Hamburger, eds., 173-194. Washington, D.C: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2016. Mentioned: p. 175
  • Art of the Islamic World (Islamic art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (May 21, 2021-May 31, 2022).
    L'Orient de saladin. Institut du Monde Arabe, 75236 Paris Cedex 05, France (organizer) (October 22, 2001-March 10, 2002).
    Arts of Islam. The Arts Council of Great Britain, Hayward Gallery, London (1976).
  • {{cite web|title=Luxury Ewer Extending Good Fortune to the Owner|url=false|author=Ahmad al-Dhaki al-Mawsili|year=1223|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1956.11