Plate with a Goddess

Place of OriginSasanian Empire

Date6th-7th Century

Dimensions1 1/2 × 9 1/2 in. (3.8 × 24.1 cm)

MediumSilver

ClassificationMetalwork

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

2022.11

Not on View

DescriptionSilver plate formed of a shallow concave bowl mounted to a low foot-ring. The underside of the plate is undecorated but displays a stippled inscription on two lines inside the foot-ring. The top surface has been decorated with figures in relief against a sunken background. The details were added to the figures using punches and chisels and their outlines were incised deeply for emphasis using a chisel. Looking out to the viewer’s right, the central female figure stands on a low platform ornamented with palmettes. She clutches with her raised left hand the long mantle that drapes across her back and right arm. In her right hand, she raises up a small, flower-like object with tripartite terminals. Atop her head of cascading ringlets, the figure wears a seven-pointed crown combined with a bejeweled diadem above her brow. She is portrayed nude with the exception of her opulent jewelry, including bracelets, anklets, and two necklaces—one at her collar bone and a longer chain draping between her breasts and terminating with a pendent medallion at her navel. Two winged boys hover at her feet while two others carry billowing veil above her head. Striding towards the central figure on either side are two identically dressed female attendants, each carrying a bird and small vessels. Billowing drapery arches over each of their heads.

Published ReferencesSundermann, Werner, Almut Hintze and Francois de Blois, eds., Exegisti monumenta Festschrift in Honour of Nicholas Sims-Williams, Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz, 2009.

Apollo Magazine, March 2010.

Aimone, Marco, The Wyvern Collection, Byzantine and Sasanian Silver, Enamels and Works of Art, London, Thames & Hudson, 2020, n. 50, page 194-196.

Spier, Jeffrey, Timothy Potts and Sara E. Cole, eds., Persia: Ancient Iran and the Classical World, J. Paul Getty Museum, 2022, cat no. 184, pages 335-337, repr. col.

Exhibition HistoryLos Angeles, The Getty Villa, Persia: Ancient Iran and the Classical World, April 6–August 8, 2022.