Bowl with interior medallion

Object Details

• Description

  Shallow bowl with flaring ring foot, fluted exterior, rim slightly thickened on interior. Ring flattened, wider than wall of ring foot, forming a flange-like spread of the ring forming the resting surface. Exterior decorated with petalled forms resembling vertical fluting, beginning about 1 cm. above ring foot; radiating slightly from base to rim. Fluting ends in scalloped molding ca. 2.5 cm. below rim. Above molding, rim continues slight outward angle. Three grooved concentric circles within base ring.

  Interior, central medallion 8 cm. in diameter, framed by double grooved concentric circles and band containing a running wave pattern decorated with small punched dots.

  Within medallion, finely chased, a male figure in three-quarter view, facing right. Figure wears Parthian dress, with coat over tunic; curly hair; beard rendered with short dashes. Right arm bent at elbow, perhaps holding fold of garment. Left arm more gently bent, holding an object (sword hilt?). Weight: 668.6 gm.

• Label

  Silver bowls of open form, with an interior central medallion enclosing a chased figure, occur among Roman silver plate dating to the late second century C.E. The petal design on the exterior of this example resembles decoration on Hellenistic moldmade ceramic relief bowls, vessels dating from the third to first century B.C.E. which have silver counterparts of probably contemporary date, and a wide distribution.

  A more precise artistic home for the Sackler silver bowl emerges from a study of the interior decoration. Parallels for the figure and style of dress are found among the stone funerary sculptures from Palmyra, in central Syria, dating to the second and third centuries C.E. In this period, many inhabitants of the city were represented in Parthian on the funerary monuments they commissioned.

• Provenance

  ?-1967

  Farhadi and Anavian Co. (active early 1960s-1973), New York, NY, method of acquisition unknown [1]

  1967-1987

  Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987), purchased from Farhadi and Anavian Co. in New York, NY [2]

  From 1987

  National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See the receipt from Farhadi and Anavian Co. to Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, dated June 15, 1967, copy in object file. This object is listed as the Farhadi and Anavian Co. object number 28. On the receipt the object is described as, “Sasanian Silver Bowl (footed) w[ith] carved human figure inside.” The Dr. Arthur M. Sackler object number inscribed on the receipt is S-261 (S stands for Silver).

  Farhadi and Anavian Co. (active early 1960s-1973) in New York, NY, was an importer and dealer of Islamic and southwest Asian art including ceramics, metalworks, sculptures, and archaeological objects. The Iranian dealers, Nourollah "Nuri" Farhadi (1903-1994) and Habib Anavian (1915-1995) established the firm in the early 1960s. In the 1970s, Anavian left the firm to establish his own business, Habib Anavian Galleries, Ltd. (active 1973-1993), in New York, NY. Clients of Farhadi and Anavian Co. included private collectors and he successfully placed works in the collections of the Cleveland Museum of Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

  [2] See note 1. 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. This work is part of the Museum’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection.

  Research updated June 7, 2024

• Collection

  Arthur M. Sackler Collection

• Exhibition History

  Weihrauch und Seide: Geld und Lexus aus dem Antiken Orient (January 21, 1996 to April 14, 1996)

  Incense and Silk: Ancient Cultures Along the Silk Road (January 22 to April 14, 1996)

  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)

• Previous custodian or owner

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

  Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

• Origin

  Iran or Syria

• Credit Line

  Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  100s, 200s

• Name

  Sackler, Arthur M., Farhadi and Anavian Co.

• Topic

  Hammering, Silver, Parthian period (247 BCE - 224 CE), Art, Punching, Ancient Near Eastern Art, Men, Incising, Chasing, Metal-work

• Culture

  Iranians, Middle Easterners, Syrians

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)