Ancient Sculpture and Works of Art

Ancient Sculpture and Works of Art

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 163. A Sassanian Glass Dish, circa 5th Century A.D. .

A Sassanian Glass Dish, circa 5th Century A.D.

Lot Closed

July 5, 03:03 PM GMT

Estimate

20,000 - 30,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

A Sassanian Glass Dish

circa 5th Century A.D. 


of shallow rounded form, the exterior decorated overall in a honeycomb pattern with five rings of wheel-cut facets, a larger facet at the base acting as a foot.

Diameter 20.8 cm.

Please note that there may be restrictions on the import of property of Iranian origin into the USA and some or all member countries of the Gulf Co-operation Council. Any buyers planning to import property of Iranian origin into any of these countries should satisfy themselves of the relevent import regime. Sotheby's will not assist buyers with the shipment of such items into the USA or the GCC. In addition, FedEx and US courier services will no longer carry Iranian-origin goods to any location. Any shipment services would need to be provided by a Fine Art shipping company.

acquired by the present owner on the Tehran art market on September 19th, 1980

For a related example see Christie’s, London, December 5th, 2018, no. 75.


Faceted glass vessels are characteristic of late Sassanian glass production. They appear to have been coveted luxury objects that were traded along the Silk Road. One example, a bowl, made its way to the tumulus of Japanese emperor Ankan (r. 531-535 A.D.), while others have been found in Turkestan, China and the Korean peninsula (E.M. Stern, Roman, Byzantine and Early Medieval Glass, 10 BCE-700 CE, The Ernesto Wolf Collection, New York, 2001, p. 338).