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Collections

Water Jar16th-17th century or later

Not on view
Carved marble vessel with ovoid body, cusped arch panels in low relief, traces of red pigment, broken loop handle, and interlocking scrollwork at the rim
Carved marble jar with wide mouth and tapering body, featuring a band of scrolling arabesques at the shoulder, arched niches with foliate motifs on the body, and small loop handles on either side.
Carved marble vessel with a wide body tapering toward the base, featuring pointed arch panels with incised flowering plant motifs in reddish-brown against cream stone, a scrolling frieze at the neck, and a small knob handle at the side.
Carved marble jar with rounded body, cream-colored stone with incised arched panels containing floral motifs, a scrolling vine border near the rim, and a small loop handle on one side.
Carved white marble vessel with a wide mouth and tapering base, decorated with pointed arch niches enclosing floral motifs, a scrolling border at the neck, and small side lugs; visible cracks and natural veining throughout.
Carved alabaster jar with ovoid body, two small loop handles, and an open rim; incised frieze of interlacing vegetal scrollwork at the shoulder above a band of arched niches containing leaf motifs, with traces of red pigment.
Title
Water Jar
Place Made
Egypt
Date Made
16th-17th century or later
Medium
Marble, carved and painted
Dimensions
Height: 21 1/2 in. (54.61 cm); Diameter: 19 5/8 in. (49.84 cm)
Credit Line
The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost
Accession Number
M.2002.1.661
Classification
Stone
Collecting Area
Art of the Middle East: Islamic
Curatorial Notes

Many portable Islamic objects, including this marble water vessel, often have led long and varied lives. Jars of this type were well known in premodern Egypt and may have been originally used to store water in a religious institution. We know that this example eventually traveled to the United States, where it was exhibited at the Egyptian pavilion of the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876 in Philadelphia. The jar remained in the country at the close of the fair and was eventually sold at auction in the 1970s and then purchased as a gift for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Selected Bibliography

  • Lo Terrenal y lo Divino: Arte Islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015.