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dish
dish

dish

Object NameDish with Mule and Rider, and Animals
Made FromGlass
Dateabout 901-999
TechniqueProbably slumped over a mold, cut, ground, polished
SizeOverall H: 5.3 cm, Diam (max): 25 cm
Accession Number55.1.139
Curatorial Area(s)
Exhibitions
Glass of the Sultans
Glass from the Ancient World
Interpretive Notes
This dish was made by sagging a disk of molten glass over a decorated mold and, after annealing, by cutting it on the wheel. The style of the cutting is unusual. The figures stand in relief of uniform thickness, without raised borders. The decoration shows a mule and rider surrounded by four animals: two ibexes, a lion with a prominent mane, and a snake. This scene is similar to those found on Sasanian-period metal dishes decorated with riders. The riders on the metal dishes are usually kings (identifiable by their distinctive crowns), armed and mounted on horses with rich trappings. They are shown hunting lions, boars, or other animals. Here, by contrast, the rider has no weapons, rides a mule, and pays no attention to the four animals surrounding him. This indicates that the dish is not Sasanian, and scholars conclude that it was made in the early Islamic period.
Place Made
probably Iran
Physical DescriptionTranslucent deep reddish purple glass; probably slumped over mold; cut, ground, and polished. Shallow dish, rim plain with top ground flat; wall curves down and in, with three small, irregular indentations below lip and even smaller irregularities elsewhere; base has low foot ring, bottom ground flat; no pontil mark. Interior decorated in relief with mule and rider surrounded by four animals. Mule is shown in profile, walking to left, with right foreleg raised and other legs straight; rider is shown in twisted perspective, with head in profile but torso rendered frontally. Animals are ibexes running from right to left; lion walking from left to right; snake, seen from above, gliding from right to left. Mule, rider, and animals are in relief of uniform thickness, without raised borders; background is plain. Details are indicated by linear cuts, almost all of which are short and straight.
Provenance
Provenance information not currently available online. Please check back in the coming weeks.