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Lot Essay
Inscription: There is an ownership inscription that reads, bande-ye al-e muhammad mahmud, 'Slave of the family of Muhammad, Mahmud'
This elegant ewer (aftaba) is very similar to an example in a private collection, attributed to 17th century Iran (Mark Zebrowski, Gold, Silver and Bronze from Mughal India, London, 1987, no.209, p.156). Both ewers have central 'rosettes' filled with engraved animals, scrolls or arabesques, which Zebrowski likens to a shamsas on manuscript illumination, textiles and carpets (Zebrowski, op.cit., p.154). Another fine example, though formed of brass and with rounder body, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum - dated AH 1011/1602-03 AD (inv.no.458-1876, Sheila R. Canby, Shah 'Abbas. The Remaking of Iran, exhibition catalogue, London, 2009, no.108, p.219). The quatrefoil medallions that decorate the Victoria and Albert ewer each contain similar animals on a ground of vine scrolls, which closely resemble ours.
Ewers of this form, and the related rounder form, are found both in India and Iran. Although it is generally believed that the form evolved in Iran, Zebrowski takes the relative abundance of Indian examples, and the existence of a provincial example made for a Hindu temple in 1415 AD, to mean that the shape evolved in India and spread west in the 15th and 16th centuries (Zebrowski, op.cit., p.153).
This elegant ewer (aftaba) is very similar to an example in a private collection, attributed to 17th century Iran (Mark Zebrowski, Gold, Silver and Bronze from Mughal India, London, 1987, no.209, p.156). Both ewers have central 'rosettes' filled with engraved animals, scrolls or arabesques, which Zebrowski likens to a shamsas on manuscript illumination, textiles and carpets (Zebrowski, op.cit., p.154). Another fine example, though formed of brass and with rounder body, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum - dated AH 1011/1602-03 AD (inv.no.458-1876, Sheila R. Canby, Shah 'Abbas. The Remaking of Iran, exhibition catalogue, London, 2009, no.108, p.219). The quatrefoil medallions that decorate the Victoria and Albert ewer each contain similar animals on a ground of vine scrolls, which closely resemble ours.
Ewers of this form, and the related rounder form, are found both in India and Iran. Although it is generally believed that the form evolved in Iran, Zebrowski takes the relative abundance of Indian examples, and the existence of a provincial example made for a Hindu temple in 1415 AD, to mean that the shape evolved in India and spread west in the 15th and 16th centuries (Zebrowski, op.cit., p.153).