• latw-164-10
    Silver kyathos (ladle). (Courtesy of the Vedat Nedim Tör Museum, Istanbul)
  • latw-164-20
    Silver kyathos (ladle). Detail of handle. (Courtesy of the Vedat Nedim Tör Museum, Istanbul)
  • latw-164-30
    Silver kyathos (ladle). Detail of handle. (Courtesy of the Vedat Nedim Tör Museum, Istanbul)

Silver kyathos (ladle)

Date
Late 6th or early 5th c BC, Late Lydian (Persian)
Museum
Uşak, Archaeological Museum, 1.27.96
Museum Inventory No.
1.27.96
Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
Uşak 1.27.96
Material
Silver
Object Type
Metalwork
Metalwork Type
Metal Vessel
Site
Ikiztepe Tumulus
Description
The shallow bowl is fairly flat at the bottom and is hammered in one piece with the hexagonal stem, to the top of which is soldered a loop. The top of the handle is elaborately ornamented, the loop mounted on a quatrefoil lotus above a profiled molding at the top of the stem, the two lateral petals grasping the loop. The loop itself is not a continuous ring, but curves round to the end at the top in two open-mouthed lion heads, their muzzles almost touching.

The form and decoration of the loop can be compared to the bracelets with lion-head finials (Özgen and Öztürk 1996, No. 111), and the stylized rendering of the limbs and musculature can be compared to that on (Özgen and Öztürk 1996, No. 30) and on the lion protomes of the kidney-shaped bracelets (Özgen and Öztürk 1996, No. 130).

Comments
From the Ikiztepe Tumulus. Von Bothmer notes that the closest parallel to this is a ladle formerly in the collection of Theodor Wiegand (Özgen and Öztürk 1996). Height 0.22 m, diameter of bowl 0.046 m, weight 72.7 g.
See Also
Özgen, “Lydian Treasure”; Baughan, “Lydian Burial Customs”.
Bibliography
Özgen and Öztürk 1996, no. 29.
Author
İÖ