CIRCA 6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.

Details

A SASSANIAN PARCEL GILT SILVER ELLIPTICAL BOWL
circa 6th-7th century a.d.
The interior decorated with a repoussé figure of a dancing woman, wearing a tightly-fitted long sleeved garment of diaphanous material which reveals her breasts and navel, the garment with a floral pattern, an elaborate necklace at the collar, a scarf or shawl draped around the lower half of her body, falling in thick folds around her legs, the corners draped over her arms, smiling serenely, with two long plaits falling on either shoulder, her hair pulled back in a large bun on either side of her face, a fanning tiara above, holding an apple from the stem in her lowered right hand, a mirror or elliptical vessel in her raised left hand
8 in. (20.3 cm) long

Provenance

Dr. Elie Borowski

Special notice

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Lot Essay

There has been extensive debate over the identification of similar dancing women on vessels of the Sassanian Period. One school of thought presents her as an image of Anahita, a pre-Zoroastrian goddess of fertility. Another theory proffers that she is a follower of Dionysos. A third considers the women personifications of the seasons. For a ewer in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery with three such figures see no. 36, p. 198-201 in Gunter & Jett, Ancient Iranian Metalwork.

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