Ewer

Ewer

The perfection lacking in the proportions of this unglazed ewer with its large, bulbous body, short neck, and small, pinched spout, is more than compensated for by the charm of its decoration. Primitive and childlike yet modern and sophisticated, the design of a long-horned quadruped and a large-tailed bird on either side of a "tree of life" was created by applying to the surface of the vessel rolled strips and circles of clay that were flattened and incised with series of parallel lines before firing. This technique, known as barbotine, was generaly used on large storage vessls, and it is rare that one finds it gracing a ewer.

Marilyn Jenkins in [The Arts of Islam: Masterpieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, 1981]

[ Art market, Near East, until 1930; sold to MMA through Maurice Dimand]

Berlin. Museum für Islamische Kunst, Pergamonmuseum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. "The Arts of Islam. Masterpieces from the M.M.A.," June 15, 1981–August 8, 1981, no. 3.

Dimand, Maurice S. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, May 12–June 28, 1931." In Ceramic Art of the Near East. New York, 1931. no. 31, p. 9.

Dimand, Maurice S. "A Recent Gift of Near Eastern Art." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, o.s., vol. 26 (March 1931). p. 7, ill. fig. 2 (b/w).

Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammadan Art. 2nd rev. and enl. ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944. p. 172.

"Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York." In The Arts of Islam. Berlin, 1981. no. 3, pp. 32–33, ill. (b/w).

Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn. "Islamic Pottery: A Brief History." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, vol. 40, no. 4 (Spring 1983). no. 1, pp. 4–5, ill. (color).

Ali, Wijdan. The Arab Contribution to Islamic Art : From the Seventh to the Fifteenth Centuries. Jordan: The Royal Society of Fine Arts, Jordan, 1999. p. 66, ill. fig. 32 (b/w).