The Vaso Vescovali
- Gallery: Room 42
- Culture: Middle Islamic
- Made in: Khurasan (province); Herat (city) (?)
- Date: 1200 (circa)
- Object type: lidded bowl
- Materials: bronze; silver
- Museum number: 1950,0725.1
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is an extraordinary object known as "The Vaso Vescovali." This is a beautifully crafted lidded bowl made of high tin bronze and inlaid with silver. The bowl is richly decorated with astrological symbols, including the zodiac signs, the sun, and the moon. Twelve roundels on the bowl each feature a figure representing a planet and its corresponding zodiac sign. One shows a person drawing water from a well—this is Saturn in Aquarius. Another shows a rider on a ram, representing Mars in Aries.
The lid holds eight roundels as well, each with a planetary figure, including the dragon 'Jawzahr' that symbolizes a lunar eclipse. Each figure has six arms, reflecting influences from Indian iconography, a detail not typical in Islamic art.
Made around the year 1200 in the region of Khurasan, possibly in the city of Herat, this work reflects both technical mastery and deep cultural exchange.
See it in person
The Vaso Vescovali is on display in Room 42 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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