Islamic Bronze Ewer - LK.033, Origin: Central Asia, Circa: 1100 AD to 1300 AD, Dimensions: 10.23" (26.0cm) high, Collection: Islamic Art, Style: Islamic, Medium: Bronze. Metalwork in the Near East and Central Asia has always enjoyed a prestige beyond that of other applied arts such as ceramics and textiles. Major pieces were specially commissioned and often bear dedications to the princes and great nobles for whom they were made. The best pieces of this period were in bronze, either engraved, inlaid, overlaid or beaten in repousse, that is designs hammered out from behind to appear in relief on the surface. The roots of Islamic metalwork are to be found in Byzantium and Persia. In the early 7th century the Arabs took over these two great empires and absorbed local metalwork techniques and typologies and contributed to a new development in metalwork by adding inscriptions in Kufic script.

Antiquities
Ancient Near East