Artistic Handcraft - Jug
Size: H. 50 cm
Origin and time: Cairo 1275/76
Museum of Ethnology, Vienna - Catalogue of the exhibition (Im Land der Königin von Saba) 1989/90
Inv. No. 4412
A chased jug with silver and gold decorations carried out in repoussé work and gilding. The inscriptions indicate that the jug produced in Cairo by master Ali ibn Hussayn b. Muhammad al-Mawsili in 1275/76 was dedicated to the Rasulid Sultan al-Malik al-Muzaffar Shams ad-Din Jusuf who reigned from 1250 until 1295 in Yemen.
During the Rasulid dynasty many pieces of metalwork were traditionally commissioned from Egypt and Syria or came to Yemen in the form of diplomatic gifts as a result of frequent exchanges between embassies and commercial relations, especially between Yemen and Egypt. The local production was doubtlessly influenced by these imports.
