Silver and gilt plate and bowl with image of hunting king. Iran, Sasanian Period, 4th to 5th century

Silver and gilt plate and bowl with image of hunting king. Iran, Sasanian Period, 4th to 5th century A.D. Freer Gallery of Art. x x From the Freer:One of the earliest and most enduring of the royal images created during the Sasanian period (ca. 224–651) shows the king on horseback hunting select quarry: boar, lion, antelope (or gazelle). This image, often embellished with gilding, was depicted on the interior of silver plates, about thirty of which have been found in Iran and neighboring countries. Produced in imperial workshops, these plates were given as official gifts from the king to high-ranking individuals within or beyond the empire’s frontiers. In the early centuries of Sasanian rule, silver production was controlled by a royal monopoly and could be minted into coins or fashioned into objects only on the king’s authority. -- source link

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