Silver phiale (libation bowl)

East Greek, perhaps Rhodian

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 152

This bowl is the earliest of the Museum's traditional phialai with a pronounced omphalos (navel), or central boss; the hollow underside furnished a grip for two fingers when the phiale was tilted to pour a libation. Stylized lotos blossoms are engraved on the gently curving surface of the bowl. The boss, with its collar decorated with embossed animals, was originally covered by another gilded metal layer, as on the adjacent bowl.

Silver phiale (libation bowl), Silver, gold, East Greek, perhaps Rhodian

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