Two jade vessels in the Treasury of the Teutonic Order come from Eastern Iran or Central Asia. The small jug and the bowl can be dated to the late Timurid period, how they reached the collection is not known. Together with the three jade vessels of the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Arts) they form an important group of Timurid jade objects at Vienna.
Jade – a general term applied to jadeite as well as nephrite – is associated in the first instance with China . It was also held in high esteem among the peoples of central Asia where it was taken to be an antidote and a stone associated with well being and victory. The Timurids who owned the jade mines of Khotan appreciated the stone because of its hardness and magical powers. Finely worked jade objects appear for the first time in the Islamic world at the Timurid courts of Samarkand and Herat.

The blackish dark green nephrite of the jug is typical of Timurid jades. The jug has a nearly spherical body and a straight cylindrical neck. Its shape is derived from Timurid metal jugs which were in the course of time also expressed in other materials: over a hundred jugs of this type in metal, ceramic and jade of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries are know. The jug of the Teutonic Order is somewhat different in that its neck dominates its appearance and that it has no handle. A further specific feature is an engraved pattern encircling the body which is partly visible below the setting. The setting of the jug is European, it consists of a pattern of cut out gold studded with pearls and gems. The form is close to a type of early 17th century German ornament called Schweifwerk . Also the cutting of the beryl on the cover points towards the early 17th century. The jug itself is thus much older than its setting.

The bowl of celadon green nephrite is shaped like a boat with high side walls. Two slightly curved grooves structure the outside horizontally. The boat shape is associated with crescent shaped beggar bowls used by dervishes, called, kashkul. Melikian-Chirvani sees their origin in Sasanian wine cups.
The exact date and place of origin of both vessels is not easy to determine because the arts of the Timurid courts had a wide impact even after Timurid power disintegrated. Jade vessels in the Timurid style became symbols of rulers who related themselves to the Timurids, especially the Great Mughals of India. The impact of Timurid jade objects made itself felt as far as the Ottoman empire in present day Turkey.

Based on German text by Sarah Teetor

Bibliography:
Dudik, Beda. Kleinodien des Deutschen Ritterordens. Wien, 1865.
Lentz T. und Lowry G. (Hg). Timur and the Princely Vision: Persian Art and Culture in the 15th Century. Washington, 1989.
Melikian-Chirvani, AS. From the Royal Boat to the Beggar’s Bowl. In: Islamic Arts IV 1990-1991. New York, 1992.