Luxury Inlaid Container (c. 1250–1350): Art, History and Details

Luxury Inlaid Container (c. 1250–1350) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Metalwork flourished in the 1200s with production centers in Mosul, Damascus, and eastern Anatolia. Along with this container, the nearby ewer and candlestick are examples of the superb pieces produced at this time. Scenes of court life, including banqueting, music, and enthroned figures, decorate the sides and top of the container. The lid is covered in hexagonal swastikas, an ancient solar motif, which is further enhanced by a large sunburst in the center. The calligraphic inscriptions extend wishes for a long life, prosperity, and patience to the owner.

Object facts

• Title: Luxury Inlaid Container
• Date: c. 1250–1350
• Culture: Northern Iraq, Ayyubid period
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: sheet brass, inlaid with silver and gold
• Dimensions: Diameter: 11.4 cm (4 1/2 in.); Overall: 12 cm (4 3/4 in.); Diameter of box: 10.1 cm (4 in.); Box: 9.7 cm (3 13/16 in.)
• Collection: Islamic Art
• Department: Islamic Art
• Accession number: 1944.482

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Islamic Art: Selected Examples from the Loan Exhibition of Islamic Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1944.
• Barrett, Douglas E. Islamic Metalwork in the British Museum. London: Lund Humphries, 1949.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.