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Silver drachm with bust of Mithridates II wearing a Hellenistic-style diadem (obverse) and archer sitting on a throne with the legend “Arsaces, great king, god manifest” (reverse)
Parthian, from Iran, c. 124-87 B.C.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Ewer decorated with female figures. Iran, Sasanian Period, 7th-6th centuries A.D. Silver and gilt. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery.
From the Sackler:
Among the silver vessels made in Iran during the sixth and seventh centuries were pear-shaped vases and pouring vessels, or ewers, closely related in form and elaborate gilded decoration. The examples displayed here share the theme of females holding symbolic objects. The figures were modeled in part after Roman personifications of the Seasons and Months, and representations of female attendants in the cult of Dionysos, the Greek god of wine and ecstatic experience.
Silver plaque fragments
Northwest Iran, Iron Age I-II, c. 1200-900 B.C.E.
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Silver bowl with lion, foliage, and a ring of raised dots. Central Asia, late 6th-early 7th c. A.D. Freer Gallery of Art.
From the Freer:
Made in Central Asia in the region of Samarkand, this decorated silver bowl is an excellent example of the school of metalwork fashioned in this cosmopolitan area on the Silk Route linking Europe and China. In the seventh and eighth century, this region—known as Sogdia—produced luxury metalwork that drew on artistic styles of Sasanian Iran, to the west, and Tang China, to the east.
Breastplate fragment from Northern Iran
Iron Age III, 800-500 B.C.E.
gold
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
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.
Sasanian coin, Iran, A.D. 293–303 (reign of Narses)
Obverse: Bust of Narses wearing a crown with three branches and streamers topped by a globe with six dots.
Reverse: Fire altar attended by king on left wearing crown and globe, holding a sword; on right by priest with mural crown holding sword; left of fire frohar symbol; right of fire taurus symbol.
Source: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
“Excavation of Persepolis (Iran): Tachara Palace (Palace of Darius), Central Facade of Western Stairway: View of Relief Picturing Gift-Bearing Delegates Led by a Median Usher”
1923-1928
glass negative from the Ernst Herzfeld Papers
Freer and Sackler Archives
“Excavation of Persepolis (Iran): Gate of All Lands, Trilingual Cuneiform Inscription, XPa, Inscribed on North Jamb of Western Doorway”
1923-1928
glass negative from the Ernst Herzfeld Papers
Freer and Sackler Galleries
“Excavation of Persepolis (Iran): Throne Hall, Campaniform Column Base inside the Hundred-Column Hall: View before Excavation”
1923-1928
glass negative from the Ernst Herzfeld Papers
Freer and Sackler Archives
“Excavation of Persepolis (Iran): Gate of All Lands, Colossal Sculpture Depicting a Bull: View before Excavation, Looking North-East”
1923-1928
glass negative from the Ernst Herzfeld Papers
Freer and Sackler Galleries
“Excavation of Persepolis (Iran): Gate of All Lands, Colossal Sculptures Depicting Man-Bulls: View before Excavation, Looking North-West”
1923-1928
glass negative from the Ernst Herzfeld Papers
Freer and Sackler Galleries
“Excavation of Persepolis (Iran): Panoramic view of the Terrace Complex before Excavation”
1923-1928
glass negative from the Ernst Herzfeld Papers
Freer and Sackler Archives
“Excavation of Persepolis (Iran): Tachara Palace (Palace of Darius), Central Facade of Southern Stairway: Detail View of Relief Picturing Persian Guards”
1923-1928
glass negative from the Ernst Herzfeld Papers
Freer and Sackler Archives
“Excavation of Persepolis (Iran): Tachara Palace (Palace of Darius), Central Facade of Southern Stairway: Detail View of Relief Picturing a Rampant Regardant Bull”
1923-1928
glass negative from the Ernst Herzfeld Papers
Freer and Sackler Archives
“Excavation of Persepolis (Iran): Gate of All Lands, Colossal Sculptures Depicting Heads of a Bull: View before Excavation, Looking North-East”
1923-1934
glass negative
Freer and Sackler Archives
“Excavation of Persepolis (Iran): Tripylon (Council Hall), Main Hall, West Jamb of Southern Doorway: Detail View of Relief Picturing Winged Symbol of Ahuramazda”
1923-1928
glass negative from the Ernst Herzfeld Papers
Freer and Sackler Archives
