This inlaid brass ewer (named after the Duc de Blacas, whose collection was acquired by The British Museum in 1866) is an excellent example of the high quality achieved by the metal workers of Mosul. These expensive vessels were often given as gifts or as tribute by local rulers, and were also popular with wealthy merchants and aristocrats. This vessel, dated Rajab AH 629 (April 1232), bears the mark of Shujac ibn Manca, known as one of the finest inlayers in Mosul.¹

The scenes decorating include an image of a horse and rider, complete with a domesticated cheetah seated behind its master, a lady gathering jewels from a jewel box, a woman seated in a rich palanquin set on the back of a camel, and a scene from the epic Shahnama, or "Book of Kings," in which the ruler Bahram Gur fixes the foot of a deer to its ear with a single arrow shot in order to impress a female musician named Azade.²  In this way the inlayed designs reflect both lyrical and mundane content, and must have appealed to courtly tastes.

(1) From the web page dedicated to the Blacas Ewer on the British Museum's Compass web site.

(2) Ibid.