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Tray with drinking scene
Late 5th–6th century
Grey schist
L. 7 3/4 in. (19.6 cm)
Reported acquired in Kashi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum
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Holding a lobed drinking bowl, a man leans against a cushion in the center of this small stone tray. One attendant pours liquid into the bowl, another kneels at his feet, and a third stands behind him holding a flywhisk. The motif of reclining at a banquet has a long history in Greek and related early western Asian pictorial art, where it is often associated with the cult of the heroized dead and linked with images of hunting. Under the rule of the Sasanians (224–651), the theme also appeared in metalwork produced in Iran and neighboring areas. Comparable images dating from the late fifth to the eighth century are found in India, Uzbekistan, and even China. It seems likely that the tray was used to hold grain or a symbolic offering associated with royal funerals or festivities for the Iranian New Year, which had overtones of renewal and regeneration.
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