It was more their way to arrive unannounced, to appear swimming in the water trough between one dip of the ewer and the next, and then to fly away over the yard in a flurry of laughter.
A number of significant pieces, such as a silver-gilt ewer and basin made by George Wickes for Frederick Prince of Wales, first acquired only a few years ago, did not arouse much enthusiasm on their reappearance on the market.
Water trickles from a tributary spring into a ewer held against the outlet by a maiden gracefully leaning forward as she grasps the stem of an olive bush to steady herself.
The women moved quickly and surely around the tent, a ewer of scented water, and a bowl appearing, along with towels and her change of clothes.
The ewer was excavated from the tomb of Li Xian, outside Guyuan Ningxia.
A decorative ewer strung on the line in this work reappears in Kilim All Totem discharging small Op-art patterns from its perch atop a miraculous stack of oil barrels, porcelain vessels and colorful cartoon patches.
This ewer, along with the rest of the service, weighing nearly seven thousand ounces altogether, descended in the Methuen family until 1920.
The ewer and basin in Plates VI and VII are the only French objects among the early diplomatic gifts in the Kremlin collection and were presented by the earl of Carlisle probably because of their provenance rather than their stylishness.
The ewers in Plate XIII, for example, are both inspired by Near Eastern models.
Various black-clad servants bustled about the room and began carrying in trays of food and ewers of water and wine.
Three men lugged in a wooden tub, followed by a stream of servants bearing ewers of hot water.
The list is substantial, totalling more than 15,500 ounces and including many decorated ewers and basins, livery pots, cups and salts, as well as large quantities of plain utilitarian plate.
The first, wheel-engraving, was often centred on ancient forms, typically featuring Homeric themes from Flaxman applied to amphora and oinochee shaped decanters, ewers and vases.
Figures and devices were painted and displayed on saddles, bridles, and collars, on censers, on goblets and cups, and flagons, on dishes and ewers, in tents, on curtains and on chairs, and upon all articles and utensils.
