Cleveland Museum of Art

Vase

Date: c. late 600s–early 700s
Medium: silver with gilded foil
Culture: Central Asia (Sogdiana) or Tibet
Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID: 154256

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

Located amid the vast “silk roads” trade network, medieval Tibet was a place of dynamic cultural exchange. This decanter is evidence of such interactions. The vessel is part of the tableware used to hold wine during feasts. Tibetan elites adopted the tradition of consuming wine at social gatherings from their Iranian (Persian) contemporaries, whose wine banquets were lavish affairs with plentiful food and drink. Lions were often seen as powerful protectors while phoenixes were associated with good fortune.

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Provenance & credit

As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.

Credit line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Provenance: ?–1988: (David Tremayne, Ltd., London, United Kingdom, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) | 1988–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH