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Fluted bowl

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Fluted bowl

Period:
Achaemenid
Date:
ca. 6th–5th century B.C.
Geography:
Iran
Culture:
Achaemenid
Medium:
Gold
Dimensions:
H. 11.1 cm
Classification:
Metalwork
Credit Line:
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1954
Accession Number:
54.3.1

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 405

  • Description

    In the sixth century B.C., under the leadership of Cyrus the Great (r. 538–530 B.C.), the Achaemenid Persian dynasty overthrew Median kings and established an empire that would eventually extend from eastern Europe and Egypt to India. Achaemenid rulers included such famed kings as Cyrus, Darius I (r. 521–486 B.C.), and Xerxes I (r. 485–465 B.C.). They built palaces and ceremonial centers at Pasargadae, Persepolis, Susa, and Babylon. The Achaemenid Dynasty lasted for two centuries and was ended by the sweeping conquests of Alexander the Great, who destroyed Persepolis in 331 B.C. The Achaemenid period is well documented by the descriptions of Greek and Old Testament writers as well as by abundant archaeological remains.


    Fluted bowls and plates of the Achaemenid period continue a tradition begun in the Assyrian Empire. While they were given as royal gifts, it seems that they were also valued and exchanged simply for the weight of the precious metals from which they were made.

  • Provenance

    Ex-collection of Khalil Rabenou, New York; by 1952, Kevorkian collection; acquired by the Museum in 1954, purchased from The Kevorkian Foundation, New York.

  • References

    Illustrated London News, 16 April 1955, p. 699.

    Wilkinson, Charles K. 1955. "Assyrian and Persian Art." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 13 (7), p. 224.

    Used in color film "Our Heritage" by Caltex, 1959-60.

    Hoving, Thomas, and Carmen Gómez-Moreno. 1972-1973. "Gold." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 31 (2), Winter 1972/1973, p. 93.

    Muscarella, Oscar W. 1980. "Excavated and Unexcavated Achaemenid Art." In Ancient Persia: The Art of an Empire (Invited Lectures on the Middle East at the Unviersity of Texas at Austin, Vol. 4), edited by Denise Schmandt-Besserat. Malibu: Undena Publications, p. 33, fig. 11.

    Harper, Prudence O. et al. 1984. "Ancient Near Eastern Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 41 (4), Spring 1984, p. 52, fig. 72.

    Vickers, Michael J. 1984. "Demus' gold phiale (Lysias 19.25-6)." American Journal of Ancient History 9, fig. IIIB, note 18.

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    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
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