Dish with Ducks Heads in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 2018

Dish with ducks' heads
ca. 6th–4th century B.C.


Object Details

Period: Achaemenid

Date: ca. 6th–4th century B.C.

Geography: Iran, Persepolis

Culture: Achaemenid

Medium: Stone, black

Dimensions: H. 3.07 in. (7.8 cm); Diam. 10 3/4 (27.3 cm)

Classification: Stone-Vessels

Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1948

Accession Number: 48.98.14


This round stone tray sits on a high ring base. It has a short rim, with a handle in the form of two duck or goose heads back to back, with their beaks connecting to the edge of the tray. It is made of a black stone, and it shows signs of having been smashed in antiquity.

This tray was excavated in the Treasury at Persepolis, the capital of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. It was found along with nearly 600 other stone trays and vessels. Possibly these were part of the Persian king’s table settings. They were probably destroyed by the soldiers of Alexander the Great when they captured Persepolis in 330 B.C. The duck heads on the handle mimic Egyptian stone vessels, which raises the possibility that the tray was made in Egypt, or, like much of the architecture at Persepolis, was inspired by Egyptian examples. Indeed, some stone vessels bearing hieroglyphic inscriptions naming Egyptian pharaohs were also found in the Treasury.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/323797