Silver set for drinking wine was found by archaeologists in one of the burial mounds of Novo-Alexandrovka I in 1977. The main tomb of the buried warrior was devastated. But the graverobbers did not find a hiding place — in ancient times they would be arrange away from the main burial place or in a niche beside the grave. There was a silver bowl, three phials, a ladle, a bucket with a strainer, covered with a lutherion — a low wide vessel for mixing water with wine. Scientists were unable to specify where the set was made. It might have been made in the East Roman provinces.
Phials
Creation period
1st century A.D.
Dimensions
Height 6.0 cm. Collar diameter 18 cm
Technique
silver, gold, tin, forging, soldering, stamping, embossing, engraving, cladding
Collection
Exhibition
10
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#6
Silver set
#12
Three phials have the form of low, wide open bowls. The medallions on them are made of silver plate.
#10
One of them, apparently, depicts Artemis — the ancient Greek goddess of hunting, fertility, virginity. The details of the image are nuanced carefully: classic profile, long neck, curly hair. The head is crowned with a laurel wreath, the earlobe is decorated with a round earring. The medallion is gilded, and edge with a gilded relief roll moulding.
#11
There are two signs on this phial, reminiscent of a family seal or mark. One of them belonged to Aspurgus, the ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom in the first century A.D. He ruled during the years of 14 to 37 A.D. It is possible that it was Aspurgus who gave the silverware set to a nobleman of nomads.
#8
Two phials are decorated with stamped medallions depicting a face reminiscent of the Gorgon Medusa mask. The details of the relief image are also decorated with gilding. On the inner surface of the phial around the medallion there are engraved images of animals. They are featured in pairs: a lion and a deer, a panther and a dog.
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Ladle with a handle in the form of a stylized image of a predatory bird with a curved beak and wings folded
Both animal figurines and the Gorgon’s hair are clad in gold — with this technique, heated thin plates of precious metal were laid on the basis. This method of decoration was typical for the workshops of the Hellenistic East, and in the late antiquity and early Middle Ages it was inherited by Sassanid masters — the inhabitants of the ancient state occupying what is present-day Iraq and Iran.
#4
The service also includes a hemispherically shaped, round-bottomed, unornamented bowl, which is more massive than the patterned bowl. The set is completed with a wine strainer and a ladle for pouring the beverage. It has a long handle in the form of a stylized image of a predatory bird with a curved beak and wings folded.
#14
Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation
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Phials
Creation period
1st century A.D.
Dimensions
Height 6.0 cm. Collar diameter 18 cm
Technique
silver, gold, tin, forging, soldering, stamping, embossing, engraving, cladding
Collection
Exhibition
10
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