Jug (Mashraba) with Human-Headed Inscription and Zodiac Signs
Arts of the Islamic World
On View: Arts of the Islamic World, 2nd floor
The Arabic inscription around the neck of this jug is written in a naskh script that terminates in human heads and reads, “Glory, success, dominion, safety, happiness, care, and long life to the owner.” The inscription on the foot reads, “Glory, success, dominion, happiness, safety, intercession, and long life to the owner.”
MEDIUM
Copper alloy, engraved, inlaid and overlaid with silver
DATES
late 12th–early 13th century
DIMENSIONS
height: 5 1/2 in. (14 cm)
diameter: 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm)
(show scale)
INSCRIPTIONS
The top panel encircling the neck of the jug consists of a band of inscription in Arabic in human-headed naskhi script that reads: "Glory, success, dominion, safety, happiness, care, and long life to the owner." The register on the foot of the jug consists of another band of human-headed Arabic naskhi that reads: "Glory, success, happiness, safety, intercession, and long life to the owner." The tips of the vertical letters end in human heads, whereas the descending letters end in legs and feet.
ACCESSION NUMBER
86.227.123
CREDIT LINE
Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc.
PROVENANCE
Prior to 1940, provenance not yet documented; 1940, exhibited in the Iranian Institute Persian Art Exhibition, New York, NY; between 1940 and 1951, provenance not yet documented; by 1951, acquired by Dikran Kelekian of New York; December 16-17, 1953, sold at Sotheby's New York, lot 239; between 1953 and 1963, provenance not yet documented; by 1963, acquired by Ernest Erickson of New York; December 16, 1986, gift of Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc. to the Brooklyn Museum.
Provenance FAQ
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Inlaid with silver, chased and engraved; decorated with inscriptions in animated naskh script, figural, geometric, and zodiac designs.
Brass, inlaid with silver, chased and engraved. It has a high, wide neck, bulbous body, flaring foot, and although the handle is missing, this jug is the finest metal object in the Erickson Collection. It has six horizontal bands of various widths with epigraphic, figural, and geometric embellishment. There is an Arabic inscription in human headed "naskhi" (cursive) script, around the neck, which reads: "Glory, success, dominion, safety, happiness, care, and long life to the owner". On the foot there is another human-headed "naskhi" inscription with two variations on the first (the order of the words for safety and happiness is reversed and the word "intercession" replaces "care". The tops of the human heads are flat and their hair is depicted by a horizontal line across the figures' brows. On the shoulder of the jug run two bands consisting of cheetahs, dogs (?) and rabbits chasing one another. The narrow band between the lower animal frieze and the foot consists of a geometric interlace, punctuated by roundels containing harpies, common on 12th and 13th century Iranian metalwork. The main decorative band in the middle has the twelve signs of the zodiac in roundels with geometric interlace.
CAPTION
Jug (Mashraba) with Human-Headed Inscription and Zodiac Signs, late 12th–early 13th century. Copper alloy, engraved, inlaid and overlaid with silver, height: 5 1/2 in. (14 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc., 86.227.123. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 86.227.123_SL1.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 86.227.123_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a
Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply.
Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online
application form (charges apply).
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the
United States Library of Congress,
Cornell University,
Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and
Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our
blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact
copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and
we welcome any additional information you might have.
