Handle

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This handle is in the shape of a duck’s head, with the beak touching the rim. It is made of green stone and was probably originally part of a large bowl or round tray. Stone trays and dishes were found in the Treasury at Persepolis, some with handles in the form of animals, including duck’s heads. These were used at royal banquets, where the Persian king displayed his wealth and power and sometimes gave vessels from the table as gifts to his guests. It is unclear whether this handle came from a royal tray or if it was instead from a modest imitation, acquired by someone who merely aspired to be a royal dinner guest. There was a long history in Iran of decorating vessels with animal features, and the Achaemenids adopted and expanded this practice.

Ancient Near Eastern Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art cares for approximately 7,000 works ranging in date from the eighth millennium B.C. through the centuries just beyond the emergence of Islam in the seventh century A.D. Objects in the collection were created by people in the area that today comprises Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean coast, Yemen, and Central Asia. From the art of some of the world's first cities to that of great empires, the department's holdings illustrate the beauty and craftsmanship as well as the profound interconnections, cultural and religious diversity, and lasting legacies that characterize the ancient art of this vast region.

Metropolitan Museum of Art