Bowl

Unknown

ca. 4th–2nd century BCE · Ceramic · Ancient Near Eastern Art

This bowl has a flat base, a low carinated shoulder, and a flaring rim. It is made of a buff clay, slightly burnished, with a pale cream slip. The clay is well-levigated and free of inclusions. The interior of the bowl is decorated, sometimes carelessly, with red paint. The interior of the shoulder features seven triangles, and in the center of the bowl is an image of a stylized bird with a long neck and legs, possibly a stork. This type of pottery is generally known as ‘Ardabil Style’ after its supposed origin in northwestern Iran. Examples of it have been found at Yanik Tepe near Lake Urmia and at Coni in Azerbaijan, and these provide a general date range of ca. 400-100 B.C. for the Ardabil Style. This shape of bowl is widely attested in the Achaemenid Empire, though it was also used in earlier and later periods, as a drinking vessel.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 4th–2nd century BCE

Medium

Ceramic

Culture

Iranian

Department

Ancient Near Eastern Art

Credit line

Gift of Mehdi Mahboubian, 1966