Artwork Page for Twelve-sided Ewer with Sphinxes and Human-Headed Inscriptions

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Twelve-sided Ewer with Sphinxes and Human-Headed Inscriptions

1300–1350

Iran, Khurasan, Ilkhanid period

(1256–1353)
Medium
hammered sheet of brass inlaid with silver
Measurements
Overall: 44.8 cm (17 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1945.27
Public Domain
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Location
116 Islamic
Print
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Did You Know?

Calligraphy with human heads, known as animated script, developed in northeast Iran during the 1100s.

Description

The spout and neck of the ewer display a crouching and seated lion in raised relief. Winged hare-like animals march around the top of the body, set off by foliate scrolls, while sphinxes process around the center. The bottom of the ewer’s body is encircled by an inscription with human heads, which only appear on metalwork in Islamic art. Ewers like this, and similar elaborate vessels, would have been used in court banquets and elite homes across the Islamic world.
A gold-colored brass ewer features a 12-sided body, thin neck extending into a spout, and straight vertical handle with an arched top connecting at the neck. The exterior is covered with incised designs, some inlaid with silver. On the neck, floral patterns surround a lion. Winged harelike animals with long torsos and tails process around the body's top, sphinxes ring the center, and stylized human figures with round heads and narrow triangular bodies encircle the bottom, all backed by swirling patterns.

Twelve-sided Ewer with Sphinxes and Human-Headed Inscriptions

1300–1350

Iran, Khurasan, Ilkhanid period (1256–1353)

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