A Rare Fatimid cast bronze ewer, Egypt, 9th-10th Century

heavily cast with a faceted globular body on a splayed foot with recessed base, the upward tapering neck with a raised collar from which the ear-shaped handle branches off and terminates in a trefoil at the juncture with the body, the handle with a zoomorphic thumbpiece, possibly a lion with its paws resting on a loop from which a chain is attached to the lid, a short hexagonal spout points upwards from the shoulder

Published in 1400 Years of Islamic Art, London 1981, no. 32

The zoomorphic handle is typical of Coptic and Muslim art in Egypt during the Fatimid period; see, for instance, Schätze der Kalifen. Islamische Kunst zur Fatimidenzeit, Vienna, 1998, Tafen 62-70, and E, R. Knauer, "Marble Stands from Egypt", Metropolitan Museum of Art Journal, Vol.14, 1979, fig.43.