Tag: container

This is a Safavid engraved copper container. The term “K’abdar” in Dehkhoda’s dictionary is defined as: A copper bowl or cup with a copper ring underneath it instead of a base. This container has been beautifully calligraphed with the name of the owner alongside two couplets or four lines of Hafez’s poetry, and very exquisite decorative motifs have been meticulously engraved from top to bottom in harmony with the shape and size of the container, arranged from large to small. This type of motif, displayed in intricate engravings, and the “K’abdar” container, is specific to the Safavid era’s art and indicates the antiquity and origin of the container to the Safavid period.

Since the antiquity of the container spans about four hundred years and has been in use during various periods, gradually, the bottom part of the container and the area where it was held have worn out, and the engraved decorations have become shallow and partially erased. However, with a little attention, traces of it can still be distinguished.

Over the course of these four hundred years, naturally, this container has had many owners, but the name of the original owner is calligraphed on its rim and continues onto Hafez’s poetry, later, another owner of the container erased the name of the original owner and unfortunately inscribed their own name with poor handwriting, as follows:

Owned by Haj Ali Mohammad………..

Later, after the dot (the erased part), Haj Shafie Hamzavi or something similar is engraved.

The diameter of the opening of the vessel is 17 centimeters, or in other words, the diameter of the vessel’s opening fits within a square with dimensions of 17×17 centimeters. The height of the vessel is also 9.5 centimeters.