Tray with Bird Heads
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
Ancient Iranian Ceramics
These ceramics demonstrate ancient Iranian artists’ interest in creating containers and other ritual instruments in the shape of mammals or birds. This tradition was of incredible duration, stretching back to about 3000 B.C.E. of the Neolithic period and lasting as late as the sixth century C.E. These shapes relate Iranian art to the customs of neighboring regions of Mesopotamia, Greece, and Central Asia where animal art also played an integral role.
MEDIUM
Clay
DATES
1st millennium B.C.E
DIMENSIONS
4 7/16 x 11 5/16 x 6 1/8 in. (11.3 x 28.8 x 15.6 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
2015.65.24
CREDIT LINE
Gift of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, NYC, in memory of James F. Romano
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
A rectangular tray having tall sides with toothed edges. The two long sides have two triangular holes each and the two shorter sides have one each. The four corners each terminate in a curving bird's head with a raptor-like beak.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Tray with Bird Heads, 1st millennium B.C.E. Clay, 4 7/16 x 11 5/16 x 6 1/8 in. (11.3 x 28.8 x 15.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, NYC, in memory of James F. Romano, 2015.65.24. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2015.65.24_PS9.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 2015.65.24_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2015
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a
Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply.
Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online
application form (charges apply).
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the
United States Library of Congress,
Cornell University,
Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and
Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our
blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact
copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and
we welcome any additional information you might have.
Can you tell me how this one was made?
This was made by joining slabs of clay together. The slabs would have first been shaped flat, in order to more easily sculpt the pointed top edge and the decorative dots along the sides. After the rectangles were joined into the basic tray shape, the bird finials were added.
Was this tray with bird heads decorative or did it function as something else?
It was largely decorative. It may have held something ceremonial in a temple setting, but it wouldn't really be categorized as a "functional" object.
