About the Artwork
This rare double-shelled ewer imitates in ceramic the Seljuk metalwork techniques of openwork decoration, a masterpiece in the annals of pottery production. A pierced outer shell representing deer, sphinxes, and human-headed birds covers a solid inner shell designed to hold the liquid contents. Inscriptions and willow leaves encircle the lower body and neck, above which rises a rooster’s head with an open crest to receive liquid and a pierced beak for pouring. The rooster, perhaps identified here as the Simurgh (a magical being able to protect against evil), in this case possibly was intended to guard the owner of the ewer from poison.
Ewer with Rooster Head
ca.1200
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Iranian
Islamic
Under-glaze slip-painted fritware
Overall: 10 3/4 × 6 3/4 × 6 inches (27.3 × 17.1 × 15.2 cm)
Ceramics
Islamic Art
Founders Society Purchase with funds from Founders Junior Council, Henry Ford II Fund, Benson and Edith Ford Fund, J. Lawrence Buell, Jr. Fund
1989.34
This work is in the public domain.
Markings
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Provenance
(Said Motamed, Frankfurt, Germany)
1989-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
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Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Suggest FeedbackPublished References
Bulletin of the DIA 65, no. 2/3, 1989, p. 9, fig. 6, (ill).
Henshaw, Julia P., ed. A Visitors Guide: The Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1995, p. 123 (ill.)
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Islamic, Iranian, Ewer with Rooster Head, ca.1200, under-glaze slip-painted fritware. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase with funds from Founders Junior Council, Henry Ford II Fund, et al., 1989.34.
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