bowl

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Object Type
Museum number: 1877,0820.1
Description: 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. Originally gilded, almost no traces of this now survive. 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.
Production date: 658
Production place: Made in: Khwarazm
Materials
Technique
Dimensions: Diameter: 8 centimetres (foot ring, exterior); Diameter: 12.40 centimetres; Height: 4.60 centimetres; Weight: 127.50 grammes (previously weighed in error as 128.2 g); Thickness: 0.10 centimetres (at the rim); Volume: 340 centimetres
$Inscriptions
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).
Bibliographic references: Seipel W 1996a / Weihrauch und Seide: Alte Kulturen an der Seidenstrasse. Catalogue of the exhibition held at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien, 21 January - 14 April 1996 (pp.305, 425, cat. 169) (cat. entry by St J. Simpson); Harper P O et al. 1978a / The Royal Hunter: Art of the Sasanian Empire (p.70, fig. 23a) (cited as a parallel); Azarpay G 1969a / Nine Inscribed Choresmian Bowls (pl. 1) (discusses iconography and the inscription); Dalton 1964a / The treasure of the Oxus with other examples of early oriental metal-work (pp. 57-58, pl. 32, no. 203); Juliano & Lerner 2001a / Monks and Merchants: Silk Road Treasures from Northwest China. Gansu and Ningxia, 4th-7th Century (p.261, cat. 87) (cat. entry by Lerner); Grenet F & Marshak B 1998a / Le Mythe de Nana dans l'art de la Sogdiane; Ward 1993 / Islamic Metalwork (fig.33); Akbarnia et al 2018 / The Islamic World: a History in Objects (p.29, fig.3); Minardi 2013 / A four-armed goddess from Ancient Chorasmia: history, iconography and style of an Ancient Chorasmian con
Location: Not on display
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'
Condition: Fair; occasional nicks to the rim, a series of deep scratches on the interior at 5 o'clock and additional old scratches and minor dents on the exterior.
Subjects: wild cat/big cat; deity; sun/moon
Acquisition name
Acquisition date: 1877
Department: Middle East
Registration number: 1877,0820.1
Additional IDs: Miscellaneous number: 124089 (WAA big number); Miscellaneous number: 1975,0516.1 (secondary registration in OA); Miscellaneous number: OT 203
Conservation: Treatment: 01 Nov 1995; Treatment: 18 Mar 2004; Treatment: 16/10/2017

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