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Luxury Ewer Extending Good Fortune to the Owner
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
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.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineLuxury Ewer Extending Good Fortune to the Owner, 1223. Inscribed by Ahmad al-Dhaki al-Mawsili (Iraqi, Mosul, active early 1200s?). 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.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1956.11
