- Title
- Plate with a Portrait Medallion of a King
- Date Made
- 224-651
- Medium
- Gilded silver
- Dimensions
- Diameter: 8 in. (20.32 cm)
Height: 4 3/4 in. (12.07 cm)
- Accession Number
- AC1993.140.1
- Collecting Area
- Art of the Middle East: Ancient
- Curatorial Notes
Silver vessels decorated with heads or busts of figures within a medallion are a distinctive category of Sasanian period (224-650) metalwork. This hemispherical bowl has sixteen concentric circles of fluting running from the rim to the outer molding of the central medallion. The bowl was formed by hammering, while the interior circles were carved. The raised figure was rendered by attaching a piece of cast silver into the vessel's center. The central figure, depicted frontally, wears a beaded halter, a feature of royal dress in the fourth century. The figure also has a coiffure of tight curls bound at the neck and a full beard knotted below the chin. The design of the crown can be compared with that of Khosrow II (reigned 616-628), which is known from contemporary coins bearing his likeness.
- Selected Bibliography
- Mousavi, Ali. Ancient Near Eastern art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2012.
