Iran, Khurasan, Ilkhanid period (1256–1353) / 1300–1350
Twelve-sided Ewer with Sphinxes and Human-Headed Inscriptions
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Twelve-sided Ewer with Sphinxes and Human-Headed Inscriptions as metalwork (Iran, Khurasan, Ilkhanid period (1256–1353) · 1300–1350).
Calligraphy with human heads, known as animated script, developed in northeast Iran during the 1100s.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this metalwork as hammered sheet of brass inlaid with silver.
The museum's collection notes: The spout and neck of the ewer display a crouching and seated lion in raised relief. Winged hare-like animals march around the top of the body, set off by foliate scrolls, while sphinxes process around the center. The bottom of the ewer’s body is encircled by an inscription with human heads, which only appear on metalwork in Islamic art. Ewers like this, and similar elaborate vessels, would have been used in court banquets and elite homes across the Islamic world.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtTwelve-sided Ewer with Sphinxes and Human-Headed InscriptionsOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.