This item has been added to the Database within the Explore Islamic Art Collections project. Information is available in: English, Arabic.

Name of Object:

Ewer

Location:

Bamberg, Germany

Holding Museum:

University Museum of Islamic Art | The Bumiller Collection

About University Museum of Islamic Art | The Bumiller Collection, Bamberg

Date of Object:

Hegira 5th century / AD 11th century

Museum Inventory Number:

BC 6100

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Bronze; cast, engraved, repoussé

Dimensions:

Height: 25.5cm, Width: 14.6cm, Weight: 0.85kg

Period / Dynasty:

Great Seljuq

Provenance:

Central Asia / Southeast Usbekistan

Description:

According to an inscription found on a large number of ewers of this type, this group can be assigned to a craftsman called Ahmad or a related workshop.
Characteristic for this group of cast bronze ewers are the distinctive pear-shaped body on a splayed foot, a tall faceted neck, a spherical upper part with hinges for fastening the lid and a large beak-shaped spout. The composite shape results from a blending of forms originating in functionally different objects: oil lamps attached to a bulbous vase. Both parts are connected by a strongly curved handle of angular cross-section surmounted by a diamond-shaped thumb rest and leaf-shaped projection on the lower part.
In total, 30 ewers of this type are known so far. Twelve of them bear an inscription “‘amal Ahmad” (the work of Ahmad), eponymous for this group. The ewer at hand belongs to the group with a band of two rows of cavities around the widest part of the body. Additionally, three triangle-shaped medallions with a tripartite vegetal ornamentation are engraved above the double row of cavities.
The find context of the 15 pieces found in archaeological excavations point to a production in or near the Ferghana Valley. A hoard of bronzes found at Budrac – medieval Saghaniyan – in Southeastern Uzbekistan contained ewers of this type and a mortar signed by Ahmad. This was possibly the production site from which the ‘Ahmad ewers’ were distributed.

How date and origin were established:

By stylistic analysis and comparison with material found in excavations

How Object was obtained:

Purchased from Ibrahimi, Hamburg in 2013

Selected bibliography:

Baer, Eva, Metalwork in medieval Islamic art, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1983: 93-94.
Ilyasov, Jangar, “Bronze Ewers of Craftsman Ahmad”, in Matteo Compareti, Paola Raffetta and Gianroberto Scarcia (eds), Eran ud Aneran. Studies presented to Boris Il’ic Marsak on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday, Venzeia: Cafoscarina, 2006: 275-292.

Citation of this web page:

Verena Daiber "Ewer" in Explore Islamic Art Collections. Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;de;Mus23;10;en

Prepared by: Verena DaiberVerena Daiber

Verena Daiber is an historian of Islamic art an archaeology. She studied Near Eastern Archaeology and Arabic Literature at the Free University of Berlin. After her employment as research associate at the German Archaeological Institute in Damascus she obtained her PhD at the University of Bamberg in 1991 on the public architecture of Damascus in the 18th century. Since 2017 she is the curator of the Bumiller Collection / Bamberg University Museum of Islamic Art that holds Islamic metalwork from the Persian world. After publishing on ceramics, architecture and imagery of the central Arabic lands, she works on the development and publishing of the Bumiller Collection.
Copyedited by: Daniel de la VegaDaniel de la Vega

Daniel de la Vega is a copy editor based in Portland, Oregon. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in linguistics from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2014 and has since done editing and localization work on everything from college applications to magazines to video game dialogue.

MWNF Working Number: DE2 10