Large Storage Jar for Cool Water With a Bejeweled Lion, Hare, and Deer

8th–10th century

Not on view

Other large jars, similar to this one, display inscriptions suggesting that they were used to store water, which would be kept cool by evaporation through the vessels’ unglazed porous walls. Whether incised, molded, stamped, or in the barbotine technique (in which rolled strips and circles of clay are applied to the surface), the vegetal and geometric motifs on these containers were likely inspired by pre-Islamic designs.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

Title: Large Storage Jar for Cool Water With a Bejeweled Lion, Hare, and Deer
Date: 8th–10th century
Geography: Attributed to Iraq
Medium: Earthenware; applied, impressed, and incised decoration, unglazed
Dimensions: H. 29 in. (73.7 cm)
Diam. 19 in. (48.3 cm)
Wt. 53 lbs. (24 kg)
Classification: Ceramics
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. E. S. David, in memory of her husband, E. S. David, 1998
Object Number: 1998.330
Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

More Artwork

In the same medium

From the same time and place

<Tiraz> Textile Fragments, Linen; plain weave, embroidered in silk — Textile Fragments
dated 320 AH/932–33 CE

Covered jar, Earthenware, burnished, with white paint and silver leaf, Mexican — Covered jar
Mexican
ca. 1675–1700

Three-color Luster Bowl with Stylized Tree
, Earthenware; polychrome luster-painted on opaque white glaze — Three-color Luster Bowl with Stylized Tree
9th century

Covered jar, Earthenware with blue glaze, China — Covered jar
China
7th century

Cup with Molded Honeycomb Pattern, Glass, colorless with yellow tinge; dip-molded, blown — Cup with Molded Honeycomb Pattern
7th–10th century or later

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.