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https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=077D0293344C28F605CD7853E60F4D9E40E292300635B639DD1D51B508ADE9D1&s=24247294&se=334883226&v=1&f=%5C1956.11det01_o2.jpg

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Additional Views

Mar 19, 2010

Luxury Ewer Extending Good Fortune to the Owner

1223

inscription by

Ahmad al-Dhaki al-Mawsili

(Iraqi, Mosul, active early 1200s?)

Iraq, possibly Mosul, Zangid or Artugid Period, 13th Century

Brass inlaid with silver; lid and base added later

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.)

John L. Severance Fund 1956.11

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.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Band on the neck (naskh): "Work of Ahmad al-Thaki, the engraver, al-Mawsili, in the year 620 and glory to my owner"; band at the base of the handle (naskh): "Work of Ahmad al-Thaki al-Mawsili"; graffiti of later owners, roughly scratched into the neck of the ewer: "Husayn ibn Qasim"; "Usta al-Muhtasib [?]"; band on the shoulder of the ewer (plaited, animated kufic): "Good luck, and learning, and commanding respect, and prosperity, and pride, and generosity, and faithfulness, and affection, and glory, and survival, and justice, and blessings, and exaltedness, and prosperity, and everlasting peace, and charitable giving."; band on the foot (naskh) [foot is a later addition]; this inscription has not yet been deciphered.

Inscription Remark

The year 620 on the Islamic calendar is the equivalent of 1223 on the Gregorian calendar.

Provenance

?-1956

(Raphaël Stora [1888–1963], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1956-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

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 www.jstor.org

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

Exhibition history

Arts of Islam. The Arts Council of Great Britain, Hayward Gallery, London (1976).

L'Orient de saladin. Institut du Monde Arabe, 75236 Paris Cedex 05, France (organizer) (October 22, 2001-March 10, 2002).

Art of the Islamic World (Islamic art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (May 21, 2021-May 31, 2022).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Luxury Ewer Extending Good Fortune to the Owner|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1956.11|author=Ahmad al-Dhaki al-Mawsili|year=1223|access-date=09 December 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Luxury Ewer Extending Good Fortune to the Owner

Luxury Ewer Extending Good Fortune to the Owner

Ahmad al-Dhaki al-Mawsili

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