Dish from Tabaristan
Type:
Plates
Date:
Seventh–eighth century
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Iran
Medium:
Gilt-silver
Dimensions:
4 × 19.7 cm
Description:
On this seventh-or eighth-century gilt-silver dish from Tabaristan, a province in northern Iran, a couple reclines on a cushion under a grapevine; the woman is smaller than the man. They are flanked by attendants and musicians who are preparing for a picnic. Wine jugs are in a cooler at the lower left, next to a wineskin and a pot suspended over a fire. The musicians play a stringed lute and a horn.
The dish was hammered into shape, and the parts in relief were cut separately and soldered onto the surface. The corrosion on the back is a result of proximity to copper objects or coins. Sasanian metalworking techniques and iconography continued after the Arab conquest of the Sasanian Empire, and dishes like this one were prized by Muslim and non-Muslim patrons alike.
The dish was hammered into shape, and the parts in relief were cut separately and soldered onto the surface. The corrosion on the back is a result of proximity to copper objects or coins. Sasanian metalworking techniques and iconography continued after the Arab conquest of the Sasanian Empire, and dishes like this one were prized by Muslim and non-Muslim patrons alike.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
4
Repository and Online Resources:
• The dish is in the British Museum, London (BM 1963,1210.3).
Image Credits:
Wikimedia Commons; © The Trustees of the British Museum
