A CAST BRONZE WATER SPOUT, SPAIN, 11TH CENTURY

Of tubular form with spout terminal rendered in the form of a lion with gaping maw, the tap with openwork palmette handle.
19.6 cm
PROVENANCE
Private collection, Dr.I. Lak, United Kingdom
CATALOGUE NOTE
Zoomorphic forms are a salient feature of Spanish and Fatimid art in general and metalwork in particular, ranging from large freestanding figurines to small functional objects with animal-form spouts and finials. A very similar bronze tap with lion spout and handle is in the al-Sabah Collection, exhibited at the Institut du
Monde Arabe, Paris and Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, in 1998-1999. The open-jawed lion also appears on a pair of 11th century Spanish vessel feet in the Museo Arqueológico y Etnológico de Granada found at Medina Elvira and on a Spanish mortar in the Museo Balaguer.