Ewer of bidri metal, inlaid with silver and brass

The ewer, which has lost its lid, is covered with a remarkable, large-figured decoration of flowering plants. They are surrounded by smaller versions of the same plants, filling out the surface fairly evenly despite the ewer’s curved shape.

The ewer was probably originally paired with a basin with the same decoration, and was used for washing the hands before meals and prayers. Since a Muslim must have running water to perform his ritual ablutions before prayer, a servant or member of the family poured water from this elegant ewer over the believer’s hands, from which it ran into the basin below.