CIRCA 6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.

Details

A SASANIAN SILVER LOBED ELLIPTICAL BOWL
CIRCA 6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.
On a high oval ring foot, the deep dish comprised of five lobes, including three elongated sections and two smaller bosses, forming the eight-petalled, scalloped flat rim, the interior with four peaked ridges, the exterior with four corresponding depressions, with fluting along the lobes
10 3/8 in. (26.3 cm.) wide

Provenance

with Farhadi & Anavian, New York, 19 December 1966.
Arthur M. Sackler Collection, New York.
Else Sackler Collection, New York; thence by descent.

Sale room notice

Please note this lot may not be exported out of the United States without first recieving an export license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

View condition report

Lot Essay

For two related oblong polylobed vessels see nos. 30-31 in A. Gunter and P. Jett, Ancient Iranian Metalwork in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art.
The shape's popularity extended beyond the Sasanian empire, with examples found to the East, from Sogdian cities in Central Asia to treasuries in Japan. A similar eight-lobed gilt-silver vessel was found in a hoard at Datong in Northern China, buried in 493 A.D. (see pl. 149 in Cultural Relics Unearthed in China, 1972.). According to Gunter and Jett (pp. 182-183, op. cit), the Datong dish shows a decorative motif characteristic of Indian art, indicating its possible manufacture in India or Pakistan. While scholars disagree on the origin of the shape, there is a clear sharing of artistic traditions from the late 5th century A.D. onward.

More from Antiquities

View All