Spout of a fountain

The long-necked animal with missing front legs, ears and horns stands upright. Its head is small compared to the rest of its body. It looks like a sturdy ram with a disproportionate body. The same type of somewhat protruding almond-shaped eyes is found on animal sculptures in the round attributed to Andalusian Spain. On its breast hangs a crescent held in place by a ribbon around its neck. It seems to play a prophylactic role, as the crescent is the symbol of Islam.

This sculpture no doubt served as the spout of a fountain, given that the body is hollow and the belly is pierced with a hole to allow for the flow of water, which must have spurted out through the animal’s mouth. Fountains were a symbol of prosperity in Islamic countries and bronze spouts are a reflection of how highly refined fountains became in Maghrebian societies in the Middle Ages.

This specimen can be related to a whole series of sculptures in the round in the shape of animals – usually deer, canines or birds –that have been discovered in different Muslim countries, in particular in Egypt[1], the Maghreb and Spain. Deer-shaped spouts from Madinat al-Zahra are now exhibited in the archaeological museumCordoba (inv. 500) and the national museum of Qatar. Bronze ewers shaped like peacocks were produced in Andalusia, most probably in Cordoba, in the late tenth or early eleventh century.[2]. Lion-shaped sculptures in the round, either of Egyptian[3] or Spanish origin,[4] were no less common during the same period, but not all of them were fountain spouts. Another specimen, a stone sculpture, was unearthed at the Qal'at Bani Hammad in Algeria[5].

[2] Cagliari, Pinacothèque nationale (inv. 1445); Davos, Furusiyya Foundation (s.n.); Paris, Musée du Louvre (MR 1569).

[3] Two lion statuettes of Egyptian origin that served as spouts of fountains are currently in the Cairo Islamic Art Museum (inv.4305) and the Museum für Islamische Kunst of Berlin (inv. I.1959), respectively.

[4] Lion with articulated tail, Paris, musée du Louvre, 7883.

[5] Spout of a fountain in the form of a lion, Sétif, Musée National, IS.244.