Lobed bowl with rays
This silver drinking vessel is conventionally called a phiale (plural phialai), an ancient Greek term for any wide, shallow bowl. It has a carinated, or ridged, shoulder and a turned-out rim. In the center of the bowl is a raised boss, usually referred to by the Greek term omphalos, surrounded by sixteen depressions. Between the depressions are deep, rounded lobes, or gadroons. The vessel was made by raising and sinking a single sheet of metal, and then adding chased details, a method that was employed for most Achaemenid metalware.
This type of bowl is closely associated with the Achaemenid royal court. Similar examples have inscriptions naming Persian kings; thus they were likely used at the royal table by the king and his guests. No doubt it took practice to drink adeptly from a vessel like this, but the omphalos in the base would have made it easier to hold with one hand, with the middle finger hooked inside the indentation and the thumb stretched out to grip the vessel at or near the rim.
This type of bowl is closely associated with the Achaemenid royal court. Similar examples have inscriptions naming Persian kings; thus they were likely used at the royal table by the king and his guests. No doubt it took practice to drink adeptly from a vessel like this, but the omphalos in the base would have made it easier to hold with one hand, with the middle finger hooked inside the indentation and the thumb stretched out to grip the vessel at or near the rim.
Artwork Details
- Title: Lobed bowl with rays
- Period: Achaemenid
- Date: ca. 5th–4th century BCE
- Geography: Western Asia
- Culture: Achaemenid
- Medium: Silver
- Dimensions: Diameter: 11.25 in. (28.58 cm); Height: 2.00 in. (5.08 cm)
- Credit Line: Gift of The Kevorkian Foundation, 1955
- Object Number: 55.122.1
- Curatorial Department: Ancient West Asian Art
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ca. 4th century BCE
Achaemenid
ca. 465–424 BCE
Iran
ca. 7th–6th century BCE
Parthian
ca. 1st century BCE
Achaemenid
ca. 6th–5th century BCE
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