This beautiful bronze jug belongs to the Fatimid era (909-1071), an early Islamic period famous for the manufacturing of bronze vessels, along with more precious ones raised in gold and silver, for the noble courts and the elite. Sometimes Kufic inscriptions and decorative motifs showing birds, animals, geometric patterns and vine tendrils are engraved on them. As seen on this piece.
The representation of the human figure was forbidden according to a Koranic edict, as the human portraits were considered as rivaling God’s creations. Metal objects in Islamic society had various functions; they were used for: cooking (metal basins and pans), for female toiletries and of course as weapons.
The manufacture of metal vessels in the Muslim world was such a specialist field that often the secrets of this trade were only passed down through the family or very lucky apprentices.