Ancient Near Eastern Art

Author(s): Vaughn E. Crawford

Source: Notable Acquisitions (Metropolitan Museum of Art), No. 1965/1975 (1965 - 1975),
pp. 36-40
Published by: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1513524
Accessed: 17-02-2018 09:20 UTC

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 Ancient Near
Eastern Art
Comments by Vaughn E. Crawford, Curator in Charge

Ax head
-, Scythian, 6th-5th c. B.C.
Silver shaft, iron blade
H. 4 3/16 in.
H. Dunscombe Colt Fund, 65.4
_
ill A curled lion decorates the silver cap, and a pair of
falcons project below the iron blade on each side.

Sword
Sasanian (Iran), 6th-7th c. A.D.
Gold hilt and scabbard, iron blade
L. 39'h in.

Rogers Fund, 65.28

Garnets, glass inlay, and granulation adorn the hilt

and front of the scabbard. The front of the

scabbard bears an imbricated pattern. The ba

has a double rib down the center flanked at inter-
vals by five pairs of double spirals.

36

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 Head of Sasanian king
Sasanian (Iran), Shapur II (?) (310-379 A.D.)
Silver
H. 15% in.
Fletcher Fund, 65.126

The head is raised from a single piece of silver,

details in repousse, chased and gilded.

Standard
Luristan (Iran), about 9th c. B.C.
Bronze
H. 6 in.
Edith Perry Chapman Fund, 66.104.1
Two confronted demons, male and female, with
ibex horns and long ears, stand on a ring and grasp
a second ring.

Bull figurine
Proto-Elamite (Iran), about 3000 B.C.
Silver
H. 6% in.

Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 66.173

A bull in human attitude and dress kneels holding

a tall spouted vessel between the hooves of his
forelegs.

ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ART * 37

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 Ewer
Sasanian (Iran), 6th-7th c. A.D.
Silver-gilt
H. 13 7/16 in.
Mr. and Mrs. C. Douglas Dillon Gift and Rogers
Fund, 67.10a,b

Complete with handle and lid, the body is deco-

rated with four female dancers holding various
objects. Each figure is set in an elaborate arcade.
Inscribed on foot in Pahlavi.

Bowl
Sasanian (Iran), 3rd-4th c. A.D.
Silver
D. 9% in.
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1970.5

This cast, hemispherical bowl, without base or

interior decoration, bears five busts of the same
female royal personage on its exterior. The higher
relief portions of the busts are applied. Details are
chased.

Plate: a king hunting

Sasanian (Iran), Yezdegird I (399-421 A.D.)
Silver-gilt
D. 9 1/16 in.
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1970.6

The king spears a stag. The portions of the figure

in relief are applied. Trace of inscription on foot.

. . _
_'e
-j..
_ ^
x IK i ^

ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ART * 38

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 it ~ ? ?

P?

'1

Wine bowl
Sasanian (Iran), 6th-7th c. A.D.
Silver-gilt
D. 5 5/16 in.
Mrs. Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff Gift, 1970.7

The central medallion contains a lion. The six

surrounding medallions depict the story of wine
making. The interior is undecorated.

Roundel
Sarmatian (Iran), 3rd-2nd c. B.C.
Silver covered with gold foil on iron back
D. 5 3/16 in.

Purchase, Bequest of Florance Waterbury,

1970.132

A recumbent horned animal lies coiled in the

center surrounded by a circle of inlays, another
circle consisting of two lions and two griffins, and
a second circle of inlays. These are made of
turquoise-colored stone or paste.

Male head
Isin-Larsa (Mesopotamia), about 2000 B.C.
Terracotta
H. 7% in.
Rogers Fund, 1972.96
Traces of red paint appear on the skin and traces
of black material on the hair. The coarse orange
buff ware is broken at the neck.

x- O
I?

ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ART * 39

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 Jar
Sumerian (Mesopotamia), about 2500 B.C.
Alabaster
L. 5 1/16 in.
Gift of Alastair Bradley Martin, 1973.33.1

The two ends depict horned female deities with

bovine ears and long plaited hair. One side bears
a worn inscription.

Ibex on stand
Sumerian (Mesopotamia), about 2500 B.C.
Bronze
H. 15 11/16 in.

Rogers Fund, 1974.190

The head was cast separately and pinned into
place. The upper stand, with four rings, may have
been used to support offering bowls. The lower
stand, to which the ibex was fastened by tenons,
is similar in form to others from excavations in
the Diyala region.

-1 Male head
Eastern Iran, 5th-8th c. A.D.
Terracotta
H. 9 in.
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1974.210
The light reddish brown fabric of this handsomely
modeled head is tempered with white and black
sand. Broken at the neck, with the impression of
a tied reed bundle visible on the interior surface.

ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ART * 40

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