Title: Water-scoop
Date: dated 985 AH (1577–8 AD)
Location: Ottoman Turkey
Materials: silver sheet, with traces of spinning and gilding, inlay in black, semi-precious stones
Dimensions: 28.6 x 16.6cm
Accession Number: MTW 906
Other Notes:
This is the only precisely dated Ottoman silver object of the 16th century. The exterior of the bowl bears an inscription in a rounded script with careful pointing, engraved and inlaid with a black composition. The inscription begins with the basmalah followed by a quote from the surah al-Anbiya’ (XXI), verse 30, ‘and [we made] from water every living thing’, and the date, 985, in figures.
The tubular handle, with a band of semi-precious stones set in collar-mounts, is constructed in sections and terminates in a knob with a ring set in a polyhedron.
Bibliography:
J.M. Rogers, The Arts of Islam. Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection, London 2010, cat.346, pp.292–3.
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