Silver Jar

Artist: Unknown

A.D. 200–300

Ancient Art

On view, 1st floor, Dura-Europos

When they sacked the city about A.D. 256, Sasanians looted most of the objects of value in Dura-Europos. The few surviving examples, however, demonstrate the level of personal wealth achieved by a portion of Dura’s population. This elegant silver wine jar, found in a private house, was probably imported. It is embellished with gilded reliefs of grapevines and actors’ masks, all of which evoke Dionysos, Greek god of wine and theater, and are appropriate for a vessel that was used during elaborate banquets.

Medium

Silver with gilding

Dimensions

8 7/8 × 4 1/2 in. (22.5 × 11.5 cm)

Credit Line

Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos

Accession Number

1931.585

Geography

Excavated in Dura-Europos, Syria

Culture

Syrian, Dura-Europos

Period

Roman (3rd century A.D.)

Classification

Containers

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Excavated by the Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos (block D5, House of the Large Atrium), present-day Syria, 1928–37; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.
Bibliography
  • Blair Fowlkes-Childs and Michael Seymour, The World Between Empires: Art and Identity in the Ancient Middle East, exh. cat. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019), 186, no. 130
  • Susan B. Downey, Terracotta Figurines and Plaques from Dura-Europos (Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, 2003), 104–5, no. 56 (head only), fig. 52
  • Elise K. Kenney, ed., Handbook of the Collections: Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1992), 272, ill
  • Dorothy E. Miner, ed., Early Christian and Byzantine Art: An Exhibition Held at the Baltimore Museum of Art, April 25–June 22, exh. cat. (Baltimore: The Walters Art Museum, 1947), 81, no. 359
  • Michael I. Rostovtzeff, Professor Paul V. C. Baur, and Professor Alfred R. Bellinger, The Excavations at Dura-Europos: Preliminary Reports of the Excavations, 9 vols. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1929–44), 229–31, pl. 12, ill
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

jars

Signed

See worksheet for inscription

Technical metadata and APIs

IIIF

Open in Mirador

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