Details

LOT 0183

Large Proto-Achaemenid Silver Phiale Mesomphalos

8TH-5TH CENTURY BC

11 1/2" (65 grams, 29.5cm).

A large sheet-silver phiale with squat D-section wall and everted rim, decorated using repoussé technique, with an outer circle of lotus petals and inner circle of petals and buds joined by swag-like vines, central flower within a roundel.

Provenance

Property of a London gentleman; previously with Cahn Auktionen AG, Basel, Switzerland, 13 November 2015, lot 39 (CHF 18,000); formerly acquired on the German art market in 1980; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10911-180802.

Literature

Cf. Godard, A., The Art of Iran, London, 1965, p.93, fig.114, for a similar motif on an item of treasure found in the Ziwiya treasure hoard.

CONDITION