Name of Object:

Ewer and basin set

Location:

Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Turkey

Holding Museum:

Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts

 About Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, Sultanahmet

Date of Object:

Hegira 1286 / AD 1870

Museum Inventory Number:

211

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Gilded copper, known as the tombak technique.

Dimensions:

Basin: height 12 cm, diameter 60 cm; ewer: height 30.5 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Ottoman

Provenance:

Istanbul, Turkey.

Description:

A set comprising two pieces: a ewer and a basin that was used for ritual ablution. The basin is large with a flaring rim. The ewer has a pear-shaped body, a curved handle and a lid. The flaring rim of the basin and the body, lid and lower part of the spout of the ewer are decorated with lozenges formed by small grooves. Vertical and horizontal grooves in the lozenges also form square motifs. On top of the lid are a flower-bud and leaf in keeping with the fashion of the time.

The set is decorated in a gilding technique known as Tombak and engraved. In Turkish metalwork gilding, especially of pure copper artefacts, appears in the AH 12th / AD 18th century. Technically, this method of gilding involves spreading an amalgam of powdered gold and mercury on the surface of the object, which is then fired in a kiln. The mercury evaporates during the firing, while the gold powder adheres to the surface. Sometimes gold leaf is placed on a mercury-coated metal surface, and when the mercury evaporates during firing, the gold leaf is fixed to the object.

The inscriptions on the ewer and the basin inform us that the objects were dedicated to the Tomb of Pertevniyal Valide Sultan, and they give the date of AH 1286 (AD 1870). Pertevniyal was the second iqbal (lit. 'fortunate one') of Sultan Mahmud II (r. AH 1223–55 / AD 1808–39). When she gave birth to Abdülaziz, she ascended to the highest female rank at court and when Abdülaziz ascended the throne in AH 1278 / AD 1861 she became the Valide Sultan (Mother of the Sultan, i.e. the Queen Mother). She had a complex built in her own name in the Aksaray Quarter of Istanbul. It comprised a mosque, a maktab (school), a sabil and a public fountain, and a tomb which was built for her in the courtyard of the mosque and in which she was buried when she died in AH 1300 / AD 1883. The Museum owns several objects taken from this tomb, some of which are in this exhibition.

View Short Description

Gold has been the expression of economic power in all periods of history. Tombak is a technique that gives the look of gold to items and is used to decorate this ewer and basin set used by Pertevniyal Valide Sultan, mother of Sultan Abdülaziz, during religious ceremonies.

Original Owner:

Possibly Pertevniyal Valide Sultan (d. 1300 / 1883; queen mother from 1277–92 / AD 1861–76)

How date and origin were established:

Both the ewer and basin bear an inscription stating that they were dedicated to the Tomb of Pertevniyal Valide Sultan and giving the date of 1286 (1870).

How Object was obtained:

The ewer and basin were transferred to the museum in 1926 from the Tomb of Pertevniyal Valide Sultan in Istanbul, to which they were dedicated.

How provenance was established:

Both the ewer and basin were dedicated to the tomb of Sultan Abdülaziz's mother, Pertevniyal Valide Sultan, in Istanbul and, due to the fact that the tombak technique was used especially in Istanbul, it is highly likely that this set was produced there.

Selected bibliography:

Anadolu Medeniyetleri III, Selçuklu-Osmanlı (Anatolian Civilizations III, Seljuqs-Ottomans), Istanbul, 1983, p.305.

Citation of this web page:

Alev Özay "Ewer and basin set" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;tr;Mus01;45;en

Prepared by: Alev Özay
Translation by: Barry Wood, İnci Türkoğlu
Translation copyedited by: Mandi Gomez


MWNF Working Number: TR 74