Bowl
BackDescription:
Silver bowl; raised from a circular piece of sheet metal with embossed design in the centre enclosed within a simple decorated roundel. Within, a depiction of a four-armed crowned goddess, possibly Nana, is seated on a recumbent lion with two upper arms holding a solar disc and lunar crescent aloft. The lower right hand holds a sceptre and the lower left holds a shallow hemispherical bow. There is a slightly thickened interior lip and a Khorezmian inscription engraved around the exterior rim. It is missing a hollow cylindrical foot ring for which the attachment marks remain on the underside of the bowl.
Object type: | bowl |
Museum number: | 1877,0820.1 |
Date: | 658 |
Production place: | Made in: Khwarazm |
Materials: | silver |
Technique: | embossed |
Dimensions: | Diameter: 12.40 cm Height: 4.60 cm Thickness: 0.10 cm (at the rim) Diameter: 8.00 cm (foot ring, exterior) Weight: 127.50 g (previously weighed in error as 128.2 g) Volume: 340.00 cm |
Inscriptions: | Inscription details: inscription in Khorezmian Inscription quoted: Inscription note: Dated to year 700 of Khorezmian era = AD 658 |
Location: | 23 |
Exhibition history: | Exhibited: 2013-2014 24 Oct-27 Apr, BM, G69a, 'Wise men from the East: Zoroastrian traditions in Persia and beyond' 1996 17 Jan-14 Apr, Austria, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, 'Weihrauch und Seide – geld und Luxus aus dem Antiken Orient' |
Subjects: | wild cat/big cat, deity, sun/moon |
Acquisition names: | Purchased from: Princess Gagarine |
Acquisition date: | 1877 |
Curator's comments:
Pendant jewel worn by the central figure compared by Lerner to Khorezmian or Sogdian pebble jewel pendant found in the tomb of Shi Suoyan in Guyuan (p. 261, cat. 87 in Annette L. Juliano & Judith A. Lerner et al., 'Monks and Merchants: Silk Road Treasures from Northwest China. Gansu and Ningxia, 4th-7th Century', New York: Harry N. Abrams, with the Asia Society, 2001).
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