Tankard

This small tankard is an excellent example of both technical expertise and artistic refinement, making it one of the finest surviving pieces of 10th century AH/ 16th century CE Ottoman metalwork. Once part of the imperial treasury, the tankard bears a tughra (royal Ottoman stamp) of Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 926-974 AH/r. 1520-1566 CE) on the interior of its cover. Cast in a bulbous form with a cylindrical neck, a flattened comical cover, and an ‘S’ shaped dragon handle – cast and soldered on separately – the entire surface is embossed, engraved and punched with a pattern of undulating scrolls and split palmettes. This tankard demonstrates the merging of decorative and technical influences emblematic of Suleiman’s courtly style: with the military annexation of the Balkans in the mid-9th century AH/ mid-15th century CE, the Ottoman court had direct access to the rich silver mines of Bosnia and Serbia, which – along with highly skilled silversmiths – were brought back to Istanbul; the Ottoman campaigns to the east also brought an influx of craftsmen and artefacts from Safavid Persia and the former Timurid strongholds of Khurasan. Written sources describe how jugs of similar shape were chained to the many drinking fountains found in Ottoman palaces.