MARIKA SARDAR: My name is Marika Sardar and I'm a Research Associate in the Department of Islamic Art. In this case there are about a hundred objects from the Met's excavations at Nishapur, a city in Iran, but this message is focusing on a metal jug or ewer with a tall neck and a small jug on its handle. There are two inscriptions on this ewer. One is near the top just below the rim and one is at the top of the body, just below where the neck joins the body. They both have generic blessings or good wishes for the owner and then at the bottom is a larger band with different animals: a hare, a hound and a lion and two men who might possibly be hunting. The small jug that appears at the top of the handle is a common feature of metal and glass ewers of this period that take the same form, but we don't really know why they're there other than for decorative purposes. This ewer or jug is a great example of metal work of the 11th century in the area of Iran and central Asia, and one of the most famous pieces excavated at Nishapur.

NARRATOR: And just a word about another object, against the wall of the case: the blue glass plate in pieces, with a hole at its center:

MARIKA SARDAR: What you're seeing is just the fragment of the original object. The hole in the middle actually was probably the place where a foot or a pedestal might have been, and supporting this circular plate. The decoration of this object was actually made by… scratching or cutting into the glass after it had cooled with a sharp stone, maybe a diamond, though we don't really know how the artisans made these.