Lid

Object Details

• Description

  This hollow circular lid preserves one of the original rivets or pins for the four perforations spaced evenly around the lid circumference at slightly varying distances from the edge. The inner surface is plain, with much green corrosion. The exterior surface of this hollow roundel, including the sides, is entirely gilded; on the upper surface is carved decoration in low relief. A central medallion with rope-like border encircles a duck facing right. Above and below the medallion extend vines inhabited by birds; to the sides are two animals, a hunting dog and a jackal, eating bunches of grapes.

• Label

  Vine scrolls and trees inhabited by birds and animals decorate this luxury object, which was probably made in Iran during the Sasanian period (ca. 224–651). Such motifs are shared by European, Chinese, and Central Asian art of the first millennium. The complex but orderly and balanced arrangement of the ornament is characteristic of Sasanian art.

• Provenance

  ?-1972

  Farhadi and Anavian Co., New York, method of acquisition unknown [1]

  1972-1987

  Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987), method of acquisition unknown [2]

  From 1987

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Arthur M. Sackler [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See object file for copy of Sackler collection inventory sheet for object 72.9.4/S-262. The inventory sheet indicates this object was acquired from the dealers Farhadi and/or Anavian Co.: "Dealer’s Number: Farhadi and Anavian 29.”

  Farhadi and Anavian Co. was a New York City art and antiquities gallery founded in the early 1960s by dealers Nourollah “Nuri” Farhadi (1903-1994) and Habib Anavian (1915-1995). By 1976, the partners had engaged in a legal dispute, which may have marked the end of Farhadi and Anavian Co.

  [2] See Prudence Oliver Harper, “The Royal Hunter: Art of the Sasanian Empire” [exhibition catalog] (New York: The Asia Society, Inc., Winter 1978), p. 62; cat. 19. The object was attributed to The Arthur M. Sackler Collections. The Sackler collection number, 72.9.4, indicates the object was acquired by 1972.

  Dr. Arthur M. Sackler was a physician, medical publisher, pharmaceutical marketer, and collector of Asian art.

  [3] Pursuant to the agreement between Arthur M. Sackler and the Smithsonian Institution, dated July 28, 1982, legal title of the donated objects was transferred to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on September 11, 1987.

  Research updated November 16, 2023

• Collection

  Arthur M. Sackler Collection

• Exhibition History

  Feast Your Eyes: A Taste for Luxury in Ancient Iran (February 4, 2012 - ongoing)

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

  Nomads and Nobility: Art from the Ancient Near East (September 28, 1987 to November 1, 1992)

  The Royal Hunter: Art of the Sasanian Empire (Winter 1978)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Farhadi and Anavian Co. (active early 1960s-1973)

  Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

• Origin

  Iran

• Credit Line

  Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

• Type

  Vessel

• On View

  Sackler Gallery 21: Feast Your Eyes: A Taste for Luxury in Ancient Iran

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  600s, 500s

• Name

  Sackler, Arthur M., Farhadi and Anavian Co.

• Topic

  Gilding, Hammering, Art, Inlay (process), Riveting, Carving, Chasing, Ducks, Metal-work, Silver, Animals, Ancient Near Eastern Art, Dogs, Sasanian period (ca. 224 - 651)

• Culture

  Iranians, Middle Easterners

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)

• On View

  Yes