A ZAND ENGRAVED BRASS 'KENDI' EWER WITH FIGURAL AND MYTHOLOGICAL DECORATION
Shiraz, post-Safavid Iran, 18th century

Of inverted bulbous shape, resting on a tall splayed foot, with a tapering faceted spout on one side and a curved, horseshoe-shaped handle with a compressed and rounded hinged lid at the top, the shape inspired by Asian kendi pottery teapots and widely employed in Iran for metal vessels, the engraved exterior showcasing a decorative tour de force of motifs featuring interlocking split palmette cartouches and roundels filled with a number of courtly and mythological characters including musicians, rulers, literary subjects like Rustam defeating divs (demons), huntsmen, the Good Shepherd, acrobats, Sufi dervishes, pairs of animals, riders on rhinos and elephants, and wild predators in fights, all set against a ground of scrolling rosette sprays and framed within vegetal and strapwork friezes, the hinged lid a later replacement in the Qajar era, 30.5cm high.