A Fatimid Marble Jar Stand (Kilga), Egypt, 10th/11th Century

of characteristic form, carved of marble with a projecting square basin, muqarnas detail to each side panel and a band of foliated kufic along the external border of the basin and parts of a kufic inscription inside the front angles, standing on four feet separated by cusped arches

Intact, with abrasion along the surface consistent with age, including minor cracks resluting in some loss to the inscriptioni, the underside with rough, unfinished carving, as viewed.
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inscriptions

On the upright part:

al-mulk/ li'llah 
'Sovereignty is God's' 

Around the rim:

baraka ... wa ni'ma .... baraka 
'Blessing ...... and [God's] Grace ... blessing'

The fine example of a jar stand, or kilga, which stands on four grooved legs and is carved on the sides with architectural arches and kufic inscriptions along the sides of the basin, can be admired for its strong sculptural quality.

Unique to Egypt and strongly associated with the Fatimid and Ayyubid dynasties, examples of such kilgas are known with both Coptic iconography and Arabic inscriptions. They were intended to be used as supports for unglazed terracotta water jars. The porous clay of the jar would allow water to slowly trickle through, cooling the liquid contents which would then collect in the basin.

A similar jar-stand was exhibited in Fatimid Treasures from Cairo at the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris (Paris 1998, p.180, no.126).

For a full discussion of marble jar-stands originating in Egypt, see Elfried R. Knauer's article in the Metropolitan Museum Journal, New York, vol. 14, 1979, pp.67-101.