Lobed elliptical bowl

Object Details

• Description

  Exterior plain. Interior is decorated with repoussé pattern of vases and grapevines. The central and side lobes are gilded on the interior. Weight: 202.9 g.

• Label

  Wine bowls of elliptical shape formed an important category of silver vessels made in Iran and its neighbors during the sixth and seventh centuries. These bowls were often decorated with images of tigers, panthers, or vegetation. Such imagery was associated with the Greek god Dionysos, whose cult spread over a wide area of the eastern Mediterranean and Southwest Asia.

• 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 30. On the receipt the object is described as, “Sasanian Silver Gilded Dish Banana Shape.” The Dr. Arthur M. Sackler object number inscribed on the receipt is S-263 (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

  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

• Credit Line

  Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  600s, 700s

• Name

  Sackler, Arthur M., Farhadi and Anavian Co.

• Topic

  Gilding, Repoussé, Hammering, Silver, Art, Ancient Near Eastern Art, Sasanian period (ca. 224 - 651), Metal-work

• Culture

  Iranians, Middle Easterners

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)