A begging bowl (Persian: kashkul) is the quintessential accoutrement of the wandering Sufi dervish. They were used since at least the 13th century by religious mendicants to carry solicited alms and as drinking vessels. Characteristically shaped like the crescent moon associated with Islam, these elliptical vessels are made in a variety of materials, including coco-de-mer nut, wood, earthenware, jade, lacquer, and metals, particularly brass, copper, and silver. They are often graced with elegantly inscribed verses from the Qur'an or Persian poetry about the spiritual renunciation of the mundane world and its earthly possessions. Begging bowls made of precious materials, such as this silver example, would have been antithetical to an ascetic’s vow of poverty and were likely made for altar use or as decorative objects.
The boat-shaped shallow bowl is sparsely decorated with a flowering vine border beneath its rim, which is enlivened with a diamond-pattern edging. At each end of the long axis is an exterior lug with a suspension ring, which conveys the vessel’s original cultural role as a dervish’s accessory worn suspended by chains. The vessel rests on a shallow foot.