CIRCA 6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.

Details

A SASANIAN SILVER BOWL
CIRCA 6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.
The interior incised with a stockily-built, caprisoned, high-stepping horse, with left foreleg raised, with saddle and saddle blanket, reins and bridle, the trappings decorated with circular phalerae, a ribbon tied around the neck, the ends fluttering behind, the tail also tied, with traces of gilding
8½ in. (21.5 cm.) diam.

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 14 November 1966, lot 29.
Private collection, Switzerland.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium.

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Lot Essay

For similar, cf. A. C. Gunter and P. Jett, Ancient Iranian Metalwork in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art, Mainz, 1992, p. 139, no. 20. The authors state that, 'A single riderless horse is an unusual subject among silver plate interiors...the horse is closely associated with royalty and appeared, in the form of a protome, on princely headgear. The presence of fluttering ribbons on the horse...also connotes a royal association', thereby giving rise to the possibility that this bowl might enjoy a royal connection.

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