FAQ
Top Half of a Habb (Unglazed Water Jug). Northern Iraq, probably Mosul, 12th–13th century. Unglazed earthenware with barbatine decoration and piercing, molding, incising, and stamping, 11 1/2 x 13 1/2 in. (29.2 x 34.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Roebling Society, 73.30.6
This remarkable object is the top half of a habb, or water jug. The unglazed ceramic body very effectively allowed for the cooling of water stored inside, and for this reason habbs have been used in Mesopotamia from pre-Islamic times to the present day. Surviving early examples vary in their degree of decoration. The Brooklyn habb is elaborately decorated, with a depiction of a ruler seated on a carpet and flanked by armed attendants and winged harpies with tails that terminate in dragon heads. The background comprises scrolling vines inhabited by birds and pierced into the body of the vessel. Overall, such figural decoration fits well within the artistic vocabulary of twelfth- and thirteenth-century northern Iraq, as is evident from both architectural decoration and manuscript painting of the period.
Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum