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"Design for a Cup to Serve Wine at Drinking Parties", Folio from a Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by al-Jazari

dated 715 AH/1315 CE
Not on view
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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: "Design for a Cup to Serve Wine at Drinking Parties", Folio from a Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by al-Jazari
  • Author: Badi' al-Zaman ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari (Northern Mesopotamia 1136–1206 Northern Mesopotamia)
  • Date: dated 715 AH/1315 CE
  • Geography: Attributed to probably Syria or Iraq
  • Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
  • Dimensions: H. 12 3/8 in. (31.5 cm)
    W. 8 11/16 in. (22 cm)
    Frame:
    H. 21 3/4 in. (55.2 cm)
    W. 16 3/4 in. (42.5 cm)
    D.1/2 in. (1.3 cm)
  • Classification: Codices
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1955
  • Object Number: 55.121.14
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

More Artwork

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"Design on Each Side for Waterwheel Worked by Donkey Power", Folio from a Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by al-Jazari, Badi' al-Zaman ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
"Design on Each Side for Waterwheel Worked by Donkey Power", Folio from a Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by al-Jazari
Badi' al-Zaman ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari
Farrukh ibn `Abd al-Latif
dated 715 AH/1315 CE
"Design for a Clock in the Form of an Elephant with an Indian Driver", Folio from a Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by al-Jazari, Badi' al-Zaman ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
"Design for a Clock in the Form of an Elephant with an Indian Driver", Folio from a Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by al-Jazari
Badi' al-Zaman ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari
dated 715 AH/1315 CE
"Figure for Use at Drinking Parties", Folio from a Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by al-Jazari, Badi' al-Zaman ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
"Figure for Use at Drinking Parties", Folio from a Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by al-Jazari
Badi' al-Zaman ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari
dated 715 AH/1315 CE
"Design for the Water Clock of the Peacocks", from the Kitab fi ma'rifat al-hiyal al-handasiyya (Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices) by Badi' al-Zaman b. al Razzaz al-Jazari, Badi' al-Zaman ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
"Design for the Water Clock of the Peacocks", from the Kitab fi ma'rifat al-hiyal al-handasiyya (Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices) by Badi' al-Zaman b. al Razzaz al-Jazari
Badi' al-Zaman ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari
dated 715 AH/1315 CE
Folio from a Qur'an Manuscript, Ink, gold, and watercolor on paper
Folio from a Qur'an Manuscript
dated 531 AH/1137 CE

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