Ancient Iran at the Sackler

I spent part of this afternoon at the Freer and Sackler Galleries in Washington, part one of my planned four-day 50th-birthday celebration. I went to see an exhibit called "Feast Your Eyes: a Taste for Luxury in Ancient Iran." I love ancient Iranian art, so I was very excited, and the exhibit was quite good. I find that these objects have the same happy mix of barbaric splendor, primitive energy, and civilized refinement that I love in Scythian or Sumerian art.

 

There were about 50 objects, dating to between about 500 BC and 651 AD, many from the Sassanian Empire (ca. 224-651). Most had some relation to eating or drinking, hence the "feast" pun in the title.

This gold pitcher is probably the most spectacular item. Sorry about the pictures, but there isn't much about this exhibit online, so I'm having to make do with what I took myself through the glass.

I love these drinking horns, with lion and lynx heads.

Some of the objects have an Indian look.

These elegant pitchers should be on my shelf.