LONDON.- A rare jade tankard inlaid with gold and studded with rubies and emeralds has been acquired by the V&A. The tankard was originally made for an Ottoman sultan in the late 16th century, in the imperial capital of Istanbul. A limited number of these objects were produced and this is the first example to enter a British national collection. The tankard was offered to the V&A partly through the Acceptance in Lieu (AIL) scheme. The Art Fund gave £220,000 towards the purchase, which included a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation. It cost a total of £477,500. The tankard is a spectacular example of how the Ottoman court borrowed forms from everyday life and turned them into luxury items. Its shape is based on the indigenous drinking vessels used for a variety of beverages including boza, the fermented millet drink still popular in Anatolia and the Balkans. However, instead of wood or leather, it is made from jade, which