A Super Fine And Highly Rare Silver Bowl From Bactria









A super fine and highly rare Silver bowl from Bactria which shows the process of making wine . It was cast and then its rim thickened to 4 mm. The inside is plain, while the outside repeats a series of motifs in each quarter in . Separated by long vines with grapes a short male worker harks the ground with a rake, followed a full female figure in a voluminous dress playing a large stringed instrument, followed by what looks like a bovine head or a child or monkey ( wine making was a big industry in Persia and Bacteria before Islam and still we have a large industry of growing Grapes three in different verities . The worked parts stand out in part up to one cm. Similar bowls have been dated over six centuries from 4th cent. BC to the 3rd cent. AD. The present cup seems to continue traits of Bactrian and Sogdian high level of silver smiths, but its date of manufacture should not predate the Huna period of the 5th cent. AD, and a few centuries may even be added. The bowl measures 16.5 cm in diameter and is 5.5 cm high.