Metalwork in the Near East has always enjoyed a prestige beyond that of the other applied arts such as textiles and ceramics. Major pieces were especially commissioned and often bear dedication to the princes and nobles for whom they were made. Their very durability and impressive appearance give them a high standing and dignity all their own.
The roots of metalwork are to be found in Byzantium and Central Asia. The Byzantines, as inheritors of the classical culture of Greece and Rome, had already influenced the art of Central Asia under the Sassanians in figure-drawing and in certain forms and decorative motifs.
Metal buckets occurred in pre-Islamic cultures in the Middle East and it is likely that Islamic versions were based in the classical prototype of tapering cylindrical form known to have been produced in Egypt.

Eastern Islamic buckets, which were principally used as soap-kettles for the bath, took a round shape, with a flaring foot, contrary to the western Islamic buckets, which were flat-bottomed and straight-sided vessels with an arched handle.
This bucket has a bulbous body, a slightly flaring rim and a semi-circular handl This is a masterpiece of Islamic bronze work; the magnificent bucket is intricately incised with ornate calligraphy and stylized designs. Around the smooth body of the bucket runs a band of engraved medallions and cartouches depicting animals set against a floral background. (LK)

References:

Hayward Gallery Catalogue, The Arts of Islam, (1976), pp. 157-181.