Plate with a Female Figure Riding a Fantastic Beast in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, August 2019

Plate Depicting a Female Figure Riding a Fantastic Winged Beast
probably 8th century


Object Details

Object Name: Plate

Date: probably 8th century

Geography: Attributed to Iran

Medium: Silver; gilded, chased, and engraved, with applied elements

Dimensions: H. 1 9/16 in. (4.0 cm)
Diam. 8 1/8 in. (20.6 cm)

Classification: Metal

Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1963

Accession Number: 63.186


Like Sasanian examples, this plate depicts a female figure riding a fantastic winged beast with a feline head, feathered body, and canine legs. Her figure is unnaturalistically twisted, a quality seen on late seventh‑ and early eighth‑century Central Asian wall paintings from Panjikent. The lower part of the plate contains a symbolic representation of earth, water, and sky.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/451721