Luxury Ewer Extending Good Fortune to the Owner

1223

Ahmad al-Dhaki al-Mawsili

Ahmad al-Dhaki al-Mawsili (Iraqi, Mosul, active early 1200s?)

Islamic Art

Luxury 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 Later owners roughly scratched their names into the neck of the ewer.

Original Source

Maker/Artist: Ahmad al-Dhaki al-Mawsili
Classification: Metalwork
Formatted Medium: brass inlaid with silver; lid and base added later
Medium: brass, inlaid, silver, lid, base, added, later
Dimensions: 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.)
Inscribed: Inscription: Band on the neck (naskh): "Work of Ahmad al-Thaki, the engraver, al-Mawsili, in the year 620 and glory to my owner"; band at the base of the handle (naskh): "Work of Ahmad al-Thaki al-Mawsili"; graffiti of later owners, roughly scratched into the neck of the ewer: "Husayn ibn Qasim"; "Usta al-Muhtasib [?]"; band on the shoulder of the ewer (plaited, animated kufic): "Good luck, and learning, and commanding respect, and prosperity, and pride, and generosity, and faithfulness, and affection, and glory, and survival, and justice, and blessings, and exaltedness, and prosperity, and everlasting peace, and charitable giving."; band on the foot (naskh) [foot is a later addition]; this inscription has not yet been deciphered. Remark: The year 620 on the Islamic calendar is the equivalent of 1223 on the Gregorian calendar.
Departments: Islamic Art
Accession Number: 1956.11
Credit Line: John L. Severance Fund
Exhibitions: L'Orient de saladin, Art of the Islamic World (Islamic art rotation), <em>Arts of Islam</em>. The Arts Council of Great Britain, Hayward Gallery, London (1976).
Rights Statement: CC0
Museum Location: 116 Islamic