This page comes from a treatise on fantastic devices invented by the author al-Jazari. This goblet is described in the text as 'arbitrating' at drinking parties: the bird atop the lid whistles until the goblet is full of wine, and then continues to whistle until the chosen guest empties it. While illustrated manuscripts were growing increasingly popular in the fourteenth century, this folio is a rare survival from Syria, where few such manuscripts are known from this date.
