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The Bobrinski Bucket, also called a kettle or cauldron, is a 12th-century
Epigraphy, from Iranicaonline.org
Studies in Islamic Metal Work--V
by D. S. Rice, on
BBC News In pictures: Art from Islamic Lands
(4th picture)
The Bobrinski Bucket, also called a kettle or cauldron, is a 12th-century bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
bucket
A bucket is typically a watertight, vertical Cylinder (geometry), cylinder or Truncation (geometry), truncated Cone (geometry), cone or square, with an open top and a flat bottom, attached to a semicircular carrying handle (grip), handle called ...
originally manufactured for a merchant in Herat
Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safēd ...
in 1163 out of bronze with copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
and silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
inlaid
Inlay covers a range of techniques in sculpture and the decorative arts for inserting pieces of contrasting, often colored materials into depressions in a base object to form Ornament (art), ornament or pictures that normally are flush with th ...
decorations. It provides one of the earliest examples of Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
anthropomorphic calligraphy. It is named after a former owner, Count Bobrinsky
The Counts Bobrinsky or Bobrinskoy (''Бобринские'') are a Russian noble family descending from Count Aleksey Grigorievich Bobrinsky (1762–1813), who was Catherine the Great's natural son by Count Grigory Orlov.
The first Count Bob ...
, and is now in the Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the list of ...
in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
.
Inscription and Decoration
The decoration of the bucket is done with copper and silver inlay. In this process patterns are created by embedding a different material onto the surface of the object. The bucket features alternating bands of calligraphy and pictorial scenes. The inscriptions, written in Arabic, are of general well wishes. In the pictorial scenes there is novisual hierarchy
Visual hierarchy, according to Gestalt psychology, is a pattern in the visual field wherein some elements tend to "stand out," or attract attention, more strongly than other elements, suggesting a hierarchy of importance. While it may occur natura ...
. The figures within each band are of the same size and detail. The first register is an inscription in anthropomorphic Naskh script with the tops of the letters having a human form. The second register shows pictorial scenes of entertainment, followed by a band of inscription in interlaced Kufic script
Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts. It ...
. Following that are depictions of men on horseback, playing polo
Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...
and hunting. In the next band of inscription animals are interwoven in the calligraphy "as if these letters were trees in a wood". The last band shows hares, antelopes and dogs running in file.
See also
*Situla (vessel)
Situla (plural ''situlae''), from the Latin word for bucket or pail, is the term in archaeology and art history for a variety of elaborate bucket-shaped vessels from the Iron Age to the Middle Ages, usually with a handle at the top. All types ma ...
External links
Epigraphy, from Iranicaonline.org
Studies in Islamic Metal Work--V
by D. S. Rice, on
JSTOR
JSTOR (; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library founded in 1995 in New York City. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary sources as well as current issues of j ...
BBC News In pictures: Art from Islamic Lands
(4th picture)
References