Encountering the Middle East

Catalogue Entry: The Pitti Ewer

            This object is commonly known as the Pitti Ewer and it currently resides in Florence in the Museo degli Argenti. It has a height of 15.6 cm and a diameter of 97 mm and is entirely made out of rock crystal with gold lining.¹ This ewer is part of a group of rock crystal ewers that are known to be made during the time of the Fatimid empire; a professor at Oxford, Jeremy Johns, commonly refers to this group of rock crystal ewers as “The Magnificent Seven” because this group of seven has similar identifiable characteristics that suggest they were made by the same artist or group of artists.² The ewer has an inscription on it that says it belonged to the “commander of commanders”. D.S. Rice is an art historian that believes this inscription comes from the same time as the caliph al-Ḥākim and refers to al-Husayn b. Jawhar whose father assisted the Fatimids with defeating Egypt.³ Since its creation during the Fatimid period, the ewer was dropped at the museum in Florence in 1998 and broke into close to 100 pieces.⁴ The Pitti Ewer was able to be professionally restored; however, the ewer does not currently reflect glass how it would before being broken.

            Although the history on this ewer is limited, it is confirmed that the Pitti Ewer was made between the 9th and 11th century A.D.⁵ Based on the inscription on the ewer mentioned by D.S. Rice above, this ewer is “one of the three important rock crystal objects from the [Fatimid] era with datatable inscriptions”.⁶ It has also been confirmed that relief cut glass in the Islamic world was created between a set of very specific dates. Prudence Oliver confirms “from the ninth to eleventh centuries A.D., this particular type of glass cutting became extremely popular in the Near East”; therefore, we can confirm the time period of this ewer but not the specific date(s) it was made.⁷

This Pitti Ewer and the rest of the Magnificent Seven are thought to have been made in Egypt during the Fatimid period.⁸ This is confirmed by a specific tool that would have been used to create the small opening at the top of the ewer. This small tool “must have been of hard metal…which was used in the Arab Middle East already in the tenth century and in Iran in the ninth”.⁹ The tools used to make the ewer help to narrow down the geographic location, but the style of the ewer helps to narrow down its creation country. Although there is a significant amount of history and information relating to where the ewer was created, there is little to no information as to what happened to the ewer after it was gifted. It is assumed it was traded to multiple owners until it was bought by the Museo degli Argenti in Florence, Italy. 

            The making of any piece of art involving rock crystal is a very tedious and intricate process. Rock Crystal is a type of quartz that is natural which was often confused with glass work during the time of production; however, the main difference between glass and rock crystal is that on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness glass is listed as a 5 and rock crystal is listed as a 7.¹⁰ The first tool that would have been used when shaping rock crystal would have been the saw and they were used “with a mixture of water and abrasive”.¹¹ The saw would have been used on the initial block of rock crystal to shape the block down to the desired abstract shape. After using the saw, the craftsman would then use smaller tools to intricately cut the rock crystal down to its desired ewer shape with its specific carvings and these tools were traditionally made with steel or iron.¹² The craftsman would hollow out the center of the ewer with a large tool to be able to make the relieved carvings on the outside of the ewer. While using the drills and grinding wheels, craftsmen would also make use of a lubricant or powder to make the ewer smooth as it was being carved. Once the main carvings in the ewer took place, “the contours of the complex curves were occasionally regularized and finished by hand”.¹³ After these steps were completed, the rock crystal would also be polished by hand so that light could reflect through the ewer. These would most likely have been the steps to complete the Pitti ewer because many of the ewers during the Fatimid period, especially the Magnificent Seven, were constructed similarly. 

As mentioned before, it is to be believed that this ewer was produced as a gift to al-Husayn B. Jawhar who advised the Caliph al-Hakim.¹⁴ However, author Paul Walker also believes this ewer could’ve been a gift to a eunuch named Ghabn who was also given the title of the “Commander of Commanders”.¹⁵ Walker believes this due to the strong friendship between Ghabn and the Caliph al-Hakim; however, both of these theories have never been completely confirmed. Due to the intricate carvings on the ewer and the rarity of rock crystal, it is known that these ewers, including the Pitti ewer, would have been used in luxury dining settings. Life in Islamic society during the Fatimid period was centered around food and drink and the Pitti ewer is an example of the type of drinking vessel that would have been used around that time. It is assumed that the “pear-shaped ewers…hint at the use of these objects as drinking vessels, most probably in a courtly context”.¹⁶ Since the rock crystals were decorated and carved over many years, they were only able to be purchased or gifted by a royal or someone within the wealthy class. 

The specific craftsman who made the PItti ewer is unknown; however, it is assumed that the Pitti ewer was made during the Fatimid period in a workshop in Egypt.¹⁷ There is little information on how these workshops were run; however, there is some information from the rock crystal workshops in Paris and Venice. These workshops did not require licenses from the artists to work; however, “each artisan was only allowed to have one apprentice at a time…an affair that lasted a total of ten to twelve years”.¹⁸ The workshops were run efficiently no matter what country they were in and had many artists carving different pieces of rock crystal. 

Since the Pitti ewer would've been used in luxury dining settings, it is also assumed that luxury foods would have been paired with and sat next to the luxury drinks served in the Pitti ewer. The luxury status of these wealthy food and drinks would have represented “a social relationship between an individual or a group that was able to demonstrate both power and wealth to others who lack them to a significant degree”.¹⁹ This shows that the dishes and food prepared in any dining setting was a representation of the high-status relationship between the host and his guests; therefore, the host would have taken the dishes used in dining very seriously to not offend his guests. In many Babylonian cookbooks, the main dishes or entrees served during a meal contained some type of meat or fish that would’ve been served with a unique sauce which would mirror the expensive Pitti ewer and the drink served in it. .²⁰ There is little evidence surrounding what types of drinks would have served in the Pitti ewer, but it can be assumed that the most expensive types of wines and juices would’ve been poured from the ewer. It can also be argued that the Pitti ewer also could have been used for water. One leader, Muhummad b. Tughul, used to “have a secured supply of drinking water for his palace by having it transported from afar in special containers”.²¹ No matter how the Pitti ewer would’ve been used, it definitely echoed an image of wealth and luxury. 

Dining and community in the Islamic world were closely linked. When formal dining services occurred, they were often followed by dance and music.²² Dance and music in every country around the world are representations of that specific culture and community. Another area that would have been a common place in royal life that created community over food would have been the Harems. The Harem is “the physical section of the palace reserved to women to which access was forbidden to most and limited to very few selected individuals”.²³ This another example of when dining and community coincided during the Fatimid period because during these meetings of women within the Harem, there would have been a significant amount of food and beverages for the women. 

In the majority of countries, dining and community are one with culture. During the time of the Fatimids there was elaborate food and dining pieces that were used to showcase one’s wealth, like the Pitti ewer. The Pitti ewer is a beautiful and intricate piece of rock crystal art that exemplifies the connection between dining and community. 

 

 

 

Endnotes

1. Walker, Paul, The Pitti Palace Rock Crystal Ewer and the Sordid Story of How and Why It Came to Exist (Journal of Near Eastern studies 77, no. 1 2018), 1.
2. Walker, 2.
3. Walker, 1. 
4. Anna Contadini, “Facets of Light: The Case of Rock Crystals” in God Is the Light of the Heavens and the Earth : Light in Islamic Art and Culture, ed. Jonathan Bloom and Sheila Blair (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015), 126.
5. Oliver, Prudence, “Islamic Relief Cut Glass: A Suggested Chronology” in Journal of Glass Studies 3 (1961), 9. 
6. Walker, 2.
7. Oliver, 9.
8. Contadini, 126.
9. Contadini, 123.
10. Hahn, Cynthia J and Avinoam, Shalem, Seeking Transparency : Rock Crystals Across the Medieval Mediterranean. (Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2020), 57.
11. Morero, E., Procopiou, H., Vargiolu, R., Johns, J., and Zahouani, H., Carving Techniques of Fatimid Rock Crystal Ewers (10–12th Cent. A.D.). Wear 301, 1-2 (2013), 151.
12. Morero, 152.
13. Morero, 155.
14. Walker, 2. 
15. Walker, 2. 
16. Hahn, Cynthia J and Avinoam, Shalem, Seeking Transparency : Rock Crystals Across the Medieval Mediterranean, (Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2020), 111. 
17. Contadini, 125. 
18. Hahn and Shalem, 98-99. 
19. Waines, David, Luxury Foods’ in Medieval Islamic Societies, (World Archaeology 34, no. 3, 2003), 573. 
20. Waines, 574. 
21. Waines, 573. 
22. Cortese, Delia, and Simonetta, Calderini. Women and the Fatimids in the World of Islam. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006), 89.
23. Cortese and Calderini, 73. 

 

Bibliography

Contadini, Anna, “Facets of Light: The Case of Rock Crystals” in God Is the Light of the

Heavens and the Earth : Light in Islamic Art and Culture, ed. Jonathan Bloom and Sheila

Blair (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015), 123-156.

Cortese, Delia, and Simonetta, Calderini. Women and the Fatimids in the World of Islam.

(Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006), 70-100. https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.flagship.luc.edu/lib/luc/detail.action?docID=271882#

Hahn, Cynthia J and Avinoam, Shalem, Seeking Transparency : Rock Crystals Across the

Medieval Mediterranean. (Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2020).

Morero, E., Procopiou, H., Vargiolu, R., Johns, J., and Zahouani, H., Carving Techniques of

Fatimid Rock Crystal Ewers (10–12th Cent. A.D.). Wear 301, 1-2 (2013), 150-156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2013.01.038.

Oliver, Prudence, “Islamic Relief Cut Glass: A Suggested Chronology” in Journal of Glass

Studies 3 (1961), 8-29. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24184945.

Waines, David, Luxury Foods’ in Medieval Islamic Societies, (World Archaeology 34, no. 3,

2003), 571–580. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3560205.

Walker, Paul, The Pitti Palace Rock Crystal Ewer and the Sordid Story of How and Why It Came

to Exist (Journal of Near Eastern studies 77, no. 1 2018), 1-6. https://www-journals-uchicago-edu.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/doi/full/10.1086/69629.