Middle Eastern? Brass Pot

Just wondering if anyone can help me with this brass pot. Wondering its age, origin, and possible use. I would guess Middle Eastern. It is 9 1/2" across.

TIA, Bryan

 

I think it looks more like bronze than brass.Is it as heavy as it looks?

 

It is not that heavy and it is pretty thin. I have not seen bronze this thin, but I have not seen alot. It is not attracted to a magnet. I think the color is because of age

 

I'd say Persian right off the bat; it's their style. You're right about the brass; it's what they use. It could be Indian too, but my money would be on Iran. It looks like it has writing in the design and that definitely isn't Sanskrit. I'd get a good look at it and look up the Persian alphabet.

 

I'd say Middle East also, similar to pieces my parents got there in the 1950's; and the star-and-crescent points to that area. Some of the decoration may represent words in Arabic.

 

Persian (Farsi) uses the Arabic alphabet.

 

The crescent and 5-pointed star have long been prominent symbols used in the Ottoman Empire and more recently in the Republic of Turkey. The Turkish flag has featured that star and crescent since 1936. I would be surprised if your item could not be traced back to Turkey. I think the metal would have to be brass to be cold-shaped as it is. Bronze is not nearly so malleable and would crack if someone attempted to form it as that pot has been cold-formed.

If it were mine and I wasn't selling it I'd try a gentle cleaning with soap and water, then when dry put a little paste wax on it so the surface would shine.

 

Turkish is a pretty good bet but could see Pakistan or other countries from the area. This seems better than most of what we see. Don't polish but maybe clean it up as Spring suggests.

 

Nobody mentioned possible use for this. Could it just be decorative?

 

IMO considering all the decoration, it was made to be sold to tourists. That size and shape certainly had some use in the country of origin but without all the decoration, which makes it expensive to produce and difficult to clean inside.

 

I think it might be dated ottoman empire period, but the use I think is for cooking over fire outside and I think it may also lack a thin slightly convex plate wider than the pot as top.
As far as origin I am guessing somewhere from caucasian region to Pakistan.