Shallow bowl

Historical period(s)
Sasanian period, 4th-5th century CE
Medium
Silver and gilt
Dimensions
H x Diam (overall): 4.3 × 19.2 cm (1 11/16 × 7 9/16 in)
Geography
Afghanistan
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1945.33
On View Location
Sackler Gallery 21: Feast Your Eyes: A Taste for Luxury in Ancient Iran
Classification(s)
Metalwork, Vessel
Type

Bowl

Keywords
Afghanistan, bear, eagle, Sasanian period (ca. 224 - 651)
Provenance

To 1945
Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962), New York. [1]

From 1945
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Hagop Kevorkian, New York. [2]

Notes:

[1] Object file, undated folder sheet note. See also, Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920 file, Collections Management Office.

[2] See note 1.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Hagop Kevorkian 1872-1962

Label

Greek culture was introduced to Central Asia following the conquests of Alexander the Great around 330 B.C.E. Although made many centuries later, this object testifies to the continued vitality of Greek art and culture in Central Asia. Many of the figures can be identified as characters in the tragic plays of Euripides, a Greek dramatist who lived in the fifth century B.C.E. Individual features of dress, hairstyle, and manner of representation draw upon Greek, Roman, Iranian, and Indian artistic traditions.

Published References
  • Arts of the Hellenized East: Orecious Metalwork and Gems of the Pre-Islamic Era. .
  • James C.Y. Watt. China Dawn of a Golden Age, 200-750 AD. New Haven and London. fig. 37.
  • Dr. Esin Atil. Exhibition of 2500 Years of Persian Art. Exh. cat. Washington, 1971. cat. 43.
  • Boris I. Marshak. Silberschatze des Orients: Metallkunst des 3-13 Jahrhunderts und ihre Kontinuitat. Leipzig. p. 37, fig. 19.
  • Ann C. Gunter, Paul Jett. Ancient Iranian Metalwork in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art. Washington and Mainz, Germany, 1992. cat. 23, pp. 40.
  • Phillip Denwood. A Greek Bowl from Tibet. no. 11, 1973. pp. 126-127.
  • Michael Vickers. Metrological Reflections: Attic, Hellenistic, Parthian and Sasanian Gold and Silver Plate. vol. 24, no. 2 Paris. pp. 163-85.
  • Kurt Weitzman. Three "Bactrian" Silver Vessels Illustrating Scenes from Euripides. no. 25. pp. 289-324.
  • Exhibition of Persian Art. Exh. cat. New York. p. 325.
  • Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae. 2 vols., Munich and Zurich, 1981-c1997. cat. 1688,24, 96, p. 836, 362, 457.
Collection Area(s)
Ancient Near Eastern Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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