PROBABLY KHORASSAN, NORTH EAST IRAN, CIRCA 9TH CENTURY

This charming modern looking ewer belongs to a transitional type of early Islamic metal ewers in which the shapes began to change. The little zoomorphic legs formed as hoofs are a typical feature of the type. A number of ewers of this type, characterised by their neck formation, sometimes with one or two spouts with rosette nozzle, are preserved in museum collections (Eva Baer, Metalwork in Medieval Islamic Art, New York 1983, figs. 67-8). A very similar example sold at Bonhams London, 25 October 2007, lot 60.