The Wade Cup with Animated Script
Unknown Artist
1200–1221
Medium
brass inlaid with silver
Dimensions
{"diameter":{"width":0.161},"overall":{"height":0.115}}
Classification
Metalwork
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1944.485
About this artwork
The highlight of the cup’s decoration is the inscription around the rim, which you see on the walls around you, with letters composed of human figures, animals, and birds. This is known as animated script and it developed in northeast Iran or Afghanistan during the mid-1100s and migrated westward. The inscription on the rim of the Wade Cup is the pinnacle of this form of script with its full-figure animation. The body of the cup is covered with interlacing bands of compartments containing tiny f...