Sassanian Silver Vessel With Cockerel

ca. 400–600 AD. Western Asia. A deep, oval silver bowl engraved with a right-facing gilded cockerel with tufts of feathers crested over its head. The cockerel is often found in Western Asian iconography and literature, in which it is associated, for instance, with the Zoroastrian protective martial deity Sraoša (see Jansari, S. 2020. “Two sides of the coin”, in Rachel Mairs (ed.) The Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek World. Abingdon: Routledge, 491–492). Excellent condition.

Size: L:51mm / W:168mm ; 233g

Provenance: Private London Collection of M.A; Formerly acquired in the 1980s on the UK art market.