Lobed bowl with lion, foliage and a ring of raised dots

Object Details

• Description

  Small, low bowl with a short, broad, ring foot. Twelve shallow radial lobes slope up to form the sides of the bowl, with their rounded ends meeting in the central area of the interior surface to form a scalloped-edged medallion. Within the medallion is a depiction of a lion with two leaf forms encircled by a row of small bosses executed in low relief. A simple scratched inscription is found on the outside of the bowl running vertcally down the center of one lobe from the rim. A second inscription mis present inside the foot ring.

• Inscriptions

  On one exterior lobe is a simple scratched inscription, which has been described in publications as probably Turkic. Within the foot ring, on the exterior base, may be a second inscription. Neither appears to be legible.

• Label

  Made in Central Asia in the region of Samarkand, this decorated silver bowl is an excellent example of the school of metalwork fashioned in this cosmopolitan area on the Silk Route linking Europe and China. In the seventh and eighth century, this region—known as Sogdia—produced luxury metalwork that drew on artistic styles of Sasanian Iran, to the west, and Tang China, to the east.

• Provenance

  From at least 1957

  Carl Kempe (1884-1967), Ekolsund, Sweden, from at least 1957 [1]

  From 1992

  Eskenazi Ltd., London, purchased from the Kempe family [2]

  To 1997

  James Freeman, Kyoto, purchased from Eskenazi Ltd., London

  From 1997

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from James Freeman in 1997

  Notes:

  [1] See B. Gyllensvard, T'ang Gold and Silver, Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 29, 2 (Stockholm: 1957), p. 63,

  fig. 70.

  [2] Information provided by Philip Constantinidi, Eskenazi Ltd. in email correspondence, March 21, 2013.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Center of the World: China and the Silk Road (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

  Silk Road Exhibition (August 18 to December 25, 2011)

  Silk Road Luxuries from China (November 5, 2011 to January 3, 2016)

  Beyond the Legacy--Anniversary Acquisitions of the Freer Gallery of Art (October 11, 1998 to April 11, 1999)

  Luxury Arts of the Silk Route Empires (May 9, 1993 to January 28, 2007)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Carl Kempe (1884-1967)

  Kempe Family

  James Freeman

• Origin

  Probably Uzbekistan

• Culture

  Sogdians, flourished 4th-8th century CE

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Vessel

• On View

  Freer Gallery 16: Center of the World: China and the Silk Road

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  600s, 500s

• Name

  Freeman, James, Kempe, Carl, Kempe Family

• Place

  Uzbekistan, Central Asia

• Topic

  Repoussé, Hammering, Cats, Art, Animals, Punching, Ancient Near Eastern Art, Chasing, Metal-work, Sogdia

• Culture

  Middle Easterners, Sogdians

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)

• On View

  Yes