The classic pear-shaped profile of this vase reflects a continuity with an established form found in glazed ceramics and glass that harkens back to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Skilled forging of steel is also a long tradition in Iran where it was used primarily for the production of weapons. In the nineteenth century, however, a demand among members of the court, elite and wealthy merchant class gave way to the introduction of a range of objects in steel such as bowls, ewers, standards (ʿalams), and objects in the shape of fruits such as pears and apples and animals such as cats, peacocks and deer.