A COPPER AND SILVER-INLAID 'DAMASCUS WARE' BRASS EWER AND BASIN
Ottoman Syria, late 19th - early 20th century

Comprising a pyriform brass ewer with flattened sides, resting on a tall conical splayed foot, rising to a tapering neck enhanced with two large bulging rings in the middle, with a widely everted rim surmounted by a stepped conical lid with an openwork finial in the shape of a key, the lid hinged to a sinuous 'dragon handle' to one side, on the latter side a tall curved spout, the exterior clad in copper and silver inlay and engraved in a variety of Mamluk-inspired motifs including knotwork bands, epigraphic cartouches, geometric fretwork and interlocking split palmette trellis, 49cm high; and a matching rounded basin, with similar decoration, resting on a short splayed foot and rising to a compressed globular body, the centre with an openwork lid decorated with typical Mamluk cusped knotwork medallions, 10cm high and 34cm diam.