Name of Object:

Ewer

Location:

London, England, United Kingdom

Holding Museum:

Victoria and Albert Museum

About Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Date of Object:

About hegira 925 / AH 1520

Museum Inventory Number:

349–1897

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Painted and glazed ceramic; the mounts silver.

Dimensions:

Height 23.8 cm, width 15 cm (including spout), depth 11 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Ottoman

Provenance:

Iznik, Turkey (the mounts European).

Description:

A ceramic ewer of rectangular shape, with four feet and a sloping shoulder. The original spout and handle have broken off and been replaced, probably in the 19th century, with silver mounts of European origin. The ewer is decorated with underglaze painting in blue and white. The wide sides are decorated with blue scrollwork designs set in a lobed diamond-shaped cartouche, from whose sides flowers grow out into the corners of the ewer. The narrow sides are painted blue and feature linked flower motifs in white. On the shoulder of the ewer, bands of blue scrollwork meander along a white ground. This decoration would have continued on the spout. The ewer's feet have been left white. This is one of a group of ceramic objects which represent the waning of the so-called 'Baba Naqqash' style. The arabesque patterns on the sides hearken back to the hallmark pattern of that style, while details like the scrollwork on the shoulder, or the chevron band around the neck, look forward to the next phase of Iznik decoration in the 1520s.

View Short Description

A ceramic ewer of rectangular shape, with four feet and a sloping shoulder. The decoration in blue and white features both traditional and innovative elements. The original spout and handle have broken off and been replaced, probably in the 19th century, with silver mounts of European origin.

How date and origin were established:

Stylistic comparison (see description).

How Object was obtained:

Purchased by the Museum in 1897.

How provenance was established:

Iznik was the centre of quality ceramic production in this period.

Selected bibliography:

Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, Istanbul/London, 1989, p.106, fig. 126.

Citation of this web page:

Barry Wood "Ewer" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;uk;Mus02;44;en

Prepared by: Barry WoodBarry Wood

Barry Wood is Curator (Islamic Gallery Project) in the Asian Department of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He studied history of art at Johns Hopkins University and history of Islamic art and architecture at Harvard University, from where he obtained his Ph.D. in 2002. He has taught at Harvard, Eastern Mediterranean University, the School of Oriental and African Studies, and the Courtauld Institute of Art. He has also worked at the Harvard University Art Museums and the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. He has published on topics ranging from Persian manuscripts to the history of exhibitions.

Copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: UK2 55

RELATED CONTENT

 Artistic Introduction

 Timeline for this item

Islamic Dynasties / Period

Ottomans


On display in

Discover Islamic Art Exhibition(s)

The Ottomans | Exporting Luxury

MWNF Galleries

Ceramics

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