2nd C. Sasanian Bronze Bowl w/ Fish, Birds, Hippocamp

Ancient Near East / Central Asia, Sasanian (Sassanian / Sassanid) Empire, ca. 2nd to 7th century CE, probably earlier in the period. A beautiful example of a large bronze bowl with the exterior and interior decorated with lightly incised, beautifully ornate motifs: fish, swimming around the edges of the interior and the sides of the bowl, interspersed with standing birds with magnificent plumage, and, at the center, a dramatic hippocamp. Size: 6.15" W x 1.25" H (15.6 cm x 3.2 cm)

The Sasanian elite valued beautiful metal objects, especially those that either were or looked like silver and gold. Many of these objects drew inspiration from Greco-Roman artwork, as with the hippocamp here. Sasanian artistic culture, in turn, spread along the Silk Road, influencing metalwork in western Iran and the Caspian Sea, and bowls like this one have been found as far afield as the eastern coast of China.

Provenance: private California, USA collection, by descent, moved from Germany in 1997, originally collected in the 1970s in Hamburg, Germany

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#156061
Condition Report: Intact, with rich patina on surface that does not obscure the artwork. Light wear commensurate with age including some dings and dents.