id: 144668
accession number: 1969.291
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1969.291
updated: 2023-01-11 02:44:28.057000
Bath Pail (Satl), c. 1580–1610. Iran, Isfahan, Safavid period (1501-1722). Cast brass, turned, engraved, inlaid with black compound (niello); overall: 17 cm (6 11/16 in.); diameter of base: 11 cm (4 5/16 in.); diameter of rim: 16.8 cm (6 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc. 1969.291
title: Bath Pail (Satl)
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: c. 1580–1610
creation date earliest: 1580
creation date latest: 1610
current location: 116 Islamic
creditline: Gift of Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc.
copyright:
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culture: Iran, Isfahan, Safavid period (1501-1722)
technique: cast brass, turned, engraved, inlaid with black compound (niello)
department: Islamic Art
collection: Islamic Art
type: Metalwork
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
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measurements: Overall: 17 cm (6 11/16 in.); Diameter of base: 11 cm (4 5/16 in.); Diameter of rim: 16.8 cm (6 5/8 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
inscription: Upper band:
At the breath of dawn [my Beloved] came from her house toward the Bath,/
A thousand hearts became dust on the road beneath her steps./
From seeing Your face, the bath-house day and night/
[Has] a thousand colored eyes on the door and ceiling./
As soon as my Moon [-faced Beloved] comes into the Bath,/
My eye becomes this bathing cup, and by eyebrow its handle.
translation:
remark:
inscription: Lower band:
I remember an old master saying in the Bathhouse:/
One day a young person asked of an old man:/
"What is the secret that makes anyone who sets foot in the bathhouse,/
Find his saddened heart opened up to joy?"/
He said: "The secret is that the bather has nothing of the trappings of this world/
But a bathing-bowl and towel -- and even those belong to others.
translation:
remark:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Art of the Islamic World (Islamic art rotation)
opening date: 2021-05-21T04:00:00
Art of the Islamic World (Islamic art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (May 21, 2021-May 31, 2022).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
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PROVENANCE
de Rothschild collection, Paris, France
date:
footnotes:
citations:
Rosenberg and Stiebel, Inc., New York, NY, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
date: ?-1969
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 1969-
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
Three animal motifs are repeated within the geometric interlacing: a doe with its head turned backward; a water fowl; and a horned animal, possibly an ibex.
digital description:
wall description:
Building on the tradition of ancient Roman baths, the hammam (public bath) was, and still is, an integral part of social life in the Islamic world. This pail was used to carry bathing equipment for a wealthy individual from their home to the hammam. It is decorated with an interlacing geometric design with a central band of repeating animals. Bathing was a popular theme with Iranian poets. On this piece, verses by the celebrated poet Jami (died 1492) relay the story of a youth inquiring as to why the hammam brings so much joy. An elder responds, “The secret is that the bather has nothing of the trappings of this world / But a bathing-bowl and towel—and even those belong to others.”
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1969.291/1969.291_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1969.291/1969.291_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1969.291/1969.291_full.tif