Peacock-shaped Hand Washing Device: Illustration from The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices (Automata) of Inb al-Razza al-Jazari (recto), 1315. The Arabic title of this work is Kitab fi marifat al-hiyal al handasiyya (The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices). According to the description of the device illustrated here, the peacock is filled with water: as it flows into the vessel below, it raises a float that opens a door in the section above, causing the little figure to move forward offering soap; as more water flows, a second door will open and another figure w

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Peacock-shaped Hand Washing Device: Illustration from The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices (Automata) of Inb al-Razza al-Jazari (recto), 1315. The Arabic title of this work is Kitab fi marifat al-hiyal al handasiyya (The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices). According to the description of the device illustrated here, the peacock is filled with water: as it flows into the vessel below, it raises a float that opens a door in the section above, causing the little figure to move forward offering soap; as more water flows, a second door will open and another figure will move forward offering a towel. Finally, the dirty water is drawn off by means of a spigot.

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Size: 5302px × 7489px
Photo credit: © Heritage Art/Heritage Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 14th, art, century, cleveland, damascus, gold, heritage, mamluk, manuscript, museum, opaque, painting, paper, period, syria, unknown, watercolour