Іранське відро

Description

A copper bucket of bell shape with a flat, fairly wide bottom from which the walls flare smoothly, forming a convex body in the lower third; the profile then narrows concavely to the neck and widens slightly again to a smooth, outward-turned rim. The massive forged semicircular handle is decorated along its whole length with deep oblique grooves creating the effect of a twisted rope; its ends are bent into loops. The handle is attached to the body by two massive shaped plates riveted to the walls with large round rivets. The decoration is engraved and covers practically the entire outer surface except the bottom itself. It has a clear structure divided into several horizontal bands. The upper band is wide and consists of alternating elongated cartouches separated by floral ornament; inside the cartouches are engraved Arabic inscriptions in the nastaliq style, partly hidden by the handle mounts. Their translation, made by I. S. Spatharis, reads: "Alas! for one who ... from the hand holding the lily (receives happiness in) the days of youth; the time you spend in drunkenness and debauchery cannot be considered (true) life; (now) the (spring) days of flowers and happiness have come. O cupbearer, give the water of life; for an inspired man ... the cup (with water already) is wine." Narrow dividing borders: thin ribbons of geometric ornament run between the main wide bands; two identical bands of a continuous row of heart- or leaf-shaped elements stand out. The central band is the widest and most richly decorated part, covered with a continuous, incredibly dense pattern of interlacing stems, palmettes and vines forming a complex symmetrical network without beginning or end. The lower band consists of a continuous row of shaped festoons containing realistic floral rosettes with leaves. The background around the inscriptions and ornaments is worked with fine hatching from upper left to lower right and vertically. The artefact was made in Iran; the five-petalled flowers covering the whole body and the treatment of the background allow the vessel to be dated to the mid-17th to mid-18th century. Scientific description by Yaroslav Chentsov.