Name of Object:

Coffee pot

Name in original language:

Dallah

Location:

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (Sharjah)

Holding Institution:

Sharjah Heritage Museum / Sharjah Museums Department

 About Sharjah Museums Authority, Sharjah

Date of Object:

Hegira late 13th – early 14th century / AD late 19th – early 20th century

Author:

Unknown

Inventory Number:

SM 2011 - 953

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Sheet and cast copper alloy

Provenance:

Arabian Peninsula

Description:

This copper dallah goes back to a type allegedly first used in 17th-century Baghdad, By the 19th century, we know of several production centres in the Arabian peninsula. Its design reflects its functional needs. The broad base ensures stability on the fire or on the sand, the large beak prevents too much coffee sediment to reach the cup. The lid is weighted to avoid it opening during the pouring process.The quality and quantity of the coffee served indicated the wealth of the host and status of the guest. Throughout the Near and Middle East coffee lay at the heart of social ritual and hospitality, while providing sustenance during chats, debate and political discourse in the many coffeehouses in the region. In continental Europe, the fashion for coffee was at its height in the 17th and 18th centuries, with coffeehouses the preferred meeting places for intellectuals and artists. In Britain, meanwhile, tea soon overtook coffee in popularity, even though certain religious organisations tried to promote coffee houses for the poor in order to steer them away from pubs and bars.

Type of Object

Metalwork

Citation of this web page:

Ulrike al-Khamis "Coffee pot" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;ua;32;en

Prepared by: Ulrike Al-Khamis

MWNF Working Number: UA 032