Artwork Page for Luxury Ewer Extending Good Fortune to the Owner

Details / Information for Luxury Ewer Extending Good Fortune to the Owner

Luxury Ewer Extending Good Fortune to the Owner

1223
inscription by

Ahmad al-Dhaki al-Mawsili

(Iraqi, Mosul, active early 1200s?)
Culture
Iraq, possibly Mosul, Zangid or Artugid Period, 13th Century
Medium
brass inlaid with silver; lid and base added later
Measurements
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.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 1956.11
Public Domain
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Location
116 Islamic
Print
?

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.
Brass ewer inlaid with silver with a wide body and narrow neck topped with a lid connecting to a handle curving down on one side, a cylindrical spout jutting out from the body on the other. Decoration highly worn, silver shapes piece together scenes of people and animals within scalloped medallions around the ewer's body, against a pattern of winding lines and vines. An inscription runs around the slightly wider shoulder (see "Inscriptions").

Luxury Ewer Extending Good Fortune to the Owner

1223

Ahmad al-Dhaki al-Mawsili

(Iraqi, Mosul, active early 1200s?)
Iraq, possibly Mosul, Zangid or Artugid Period, 13th Century

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