Bowl

Object Details

Label

This simple but elegant vessel is among the earliest known Sasanian examples in silver. Allegedly found in the city of Kermanshah in northwestern Iran, it depicts the profile bust of a bearded man set on acanthus leaves. His dense curly hair and diadem indicate he is a member of Sasanian nobility. (A ruler would have worn a crown.) The design recalls Roman portrait medallions that rise from stylized calyx leaves.

Provenance

?-?

Likely unearthed by local residents, near Sar Pul Zohāb, Iran [1]

By 1954

Possibly Nejat Rabbi, Tehran, Iran, method of acquisition unknown [2]

By 1955-1957

The Kevorkian Foundation, New York, method of acquisition unknown [3]

From 1957

National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, purchased from the Kevorkian Foundation, New York [4]

Notes:

[1] See Richard N. Frye, “A Parthian Silver Bowl,” in “Artibus Asiae” 17, no. 2 (1954): pp. 143-144. Frye wrote, “Several years ago, according to the story, peasants digging on a mound near Sar Pul Zohāb (Dhahāb), about 30 km. east of Qasr-e Shīrīn on the road to Kirmanshah, found four silver bowls one inside the other.” After describing the object now in the Freer Gallery of Art, Frye notes that, “One must always accept stories of provenance with reserve, but in this case there seemed to be unanimity of opinion which favors a measure of veracity.” See also M. S. Dimand “A Group of Sasanian Silver Bowls” in “Aus Der Welt Der Islamischen Kunst,” ed. Richard Ettinghausen (Berlin: Gebr. Mann, 1959), pp. 11-12: “In 1954 Professor Frye published a silver bowl, which he wrongly identified as Parthian, said to be found by peasants, together with three other ones, east of Kasr-i-Shirin on the road to Kirmanshah. The four bowls were found one inside the other. The bowl published by Frye was at first in a collection in Teheran but is now in the Freer Gallery in Washington.” See also note 2.

[2] See object file for copy of curatorial note dated 1957, by R. Ettinghausen. Regarding the Freer Gallery of Art bowl, Ettinghausen cites the Frye article, see note 1. He added, “According to information in Teheran in 1954 (when I saw this bowl in the possession of the antiques dealer Nejat Rabbi), a cast was made of this piece; it will undoubtedly turn up sometime.”

Nejat Soleimani (also spelled Soleymani) was an Iranian dealer of Near Eastern antiquities, with a shop on the corner of the Istanbul Road in Tehran. Nejat was also likely known as Nejat Rabbi. Nejat and his brother Rabi (perhaps also known as Raffi) Soleimani (1913-1983) were antiquities dealers. They were among those acknowledged by Arthur Upham Pope in the intro to “Survey of Persian Art” (1930): “Friends in Persia have given valuable help…especially Najat and Solomon Rabbi [sic].” Nejat’s nephew, Rabi Raffi “Hadji” (b. 1944), is also an antiquities dealer.

[3] See object file for copy of September 27, 1955 letter from Freer Gallery of Art Director A. G. Wenley, to Hagop Kevorkian. The letter regarded objects left at the Freer Gallery of Art by Kevorkian, for examination, including the Freer bowl. Wenley wrote, “We also have… a silver bowl with a male bust in the center, said to be Parthian.” Next to this is a handwritten note for Freer Gallery of Art vault record no. V112.55, indicating the object was left at the Freer in 1955. See also a copy of Freer Gallery of Art vault card no. V112.55, showing that on July 6, 1955, Kevorkian left the object with the Freer for examination.

Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962) was an archaeologist, connoisseur, and one of the most significant dealers of art, including Islamic, Armenian, Ancient, and Classical art. Kevorkian had eponymous galleries in New York and Paris, and important objects from these galleries entered museums and private collections around the world. In 1953 he established the Kevorkian Fund, which has supported scholarship in art history and archaeology, museum collections, lectures, and fellowships into the 21st century.

[4] See object file for copy of The Kevorkian Foundation invoice to the Freer Gallery of Art, dated July 1, 1957, and marked approved by Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian J. E. Graf on October 19, 1956. This work is part of the musuem's Freer Gallery of Art collection.

Research updated November 20, 2023

Collection

Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Exhibition History

Feast Your Eyes: A Taste for Luxury in Ancient Iran (February 4, 2012 - ongoing)

Ancient Art of the Near East (November 21, 2009 to December 1, 2011)

Luxury Arts of the Silk Route Empires (May 9, 1993 to January 28, 2007)

Ancient Near Eastern Metalware (December 18, 1984 to February 24, 1986)

Pre-Islamic Metalwork from the Near East (April 15, 1983 to April 4, 1984)

Art of the Near East (August 21, 1977 to December 14, 1979)

Near Eastern Art (June 15, 1973 to May 7, 1975)

2500 Years of Persian Art—Paintings, Metalwork (February 10, 1972 to June 15, 1973)

Near Eastern Art—Paintings, Metalwork (August 18, 1967 to February 10, 1972)

Special Exhibition Afghanistan (September 3, 1963 to June 5, 1964)

Near Eastern Art (January 1, 1963 to August 18, 1967)

Special Exhibition of Persian Art (May 1, 1960 to August 11, 1961)

Previous custodian or owner

Kevorkian Foundation (established 1951)

Credit Line

Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

3rd century

Period

Sasanian period

Accession Number

F1957.20

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Vessel

Medium

Silver and gilt

Dimensions

H x Diam (overall): 21 x 6.2 cm (8 1/4 x 2 7/16 in)

Origin

Iran

On View

Sackler Gallery 21: Feast Your Eyes: A Taste for Luxury in Ancient Iran

Related Online Resources

Google Cultural Institute

See more items in

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Topic

casting

gilding

chasing

hammering

carving

metal

silver

portrait

Sasanian period (ca. 224 - 651)

Iran

ruler

Ancient Near Eastern Art

Record ID

fsg_F1957.20

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye3453e17a4-a6d6-4fdb-9ccf-3b881e717820