Spouted Ewer with Curving Handle

Breezily rendered Chinese decorative motifs in two shades of cobalt blue decorate the surface of this ewer. A border composed of cloudlike ruyi motifs separates chrysanthemum scrolls painted freely around the pear-shaped belly and rendered in reserve on the shoulder. Crisscrossing lines—possibly vestigial plantain leaves—pattern the tapering neck. Hash marks resembling the Chinese character shou (longevity) are evenly spaced along the spout. Except for the loss of the tip of the spout (now restored), the vessel is in fine, unbroken condition, retaining a glossy surface. Although varying in proportion, the general form of this ewer, with its pear-shaped body, tapering spout, curving handle, neck ringed by torus molding, and flaring mouth, was rendered in metal or ceramic in Iran, India, and Turkey from the sixteenth through the nineteenth century. The particular variant seen here, in which the curving handle joins a cup-shaped mouth above a prominent knob, appears to have been popular in late Safavid ceramics; ewers with these features have survived in a range of decorative techniques including monochrome relief, luster, and underglaze painting. The imitation shou mark appears as decorative fill on a handful of late Safavid blue-and-white wares attributed to the reign (1666–94) of the Safavid ruler Shah Sulayman.