Ancient Iranian Metalwork in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art.

• Author: Harper, Prudence O.

This volume, written jointly by Ann Gunter and Paul Jett, is a useful and comprehensive catalogue of the metalwork of the Achaemenid through Sasanian periods in the Freer and Sackler galleries in Washington, D.C. These two collections, never to be displayed together because of the terms of the Freer bequest restricting the exhibition of that collection to the Freer Gallery, can now happily be viewed and considered together in this handsome volume.

The study begins with a brief history of the collections and a review of what is currently known about Achaemenid and later pre-Islamic Iranian metalwork. An introductory chapter by Ann Gunter on vessel shapes and decoration precedes the catalogue entries, which are similarly arranged according to chronological periods and to shapes within these periods. An essay by Paul Jett is on the subject of materials and manufacture. Black-and-white illustrations accompany every catalogue entry and a selection of sixteen color plates appears at the front of the book. This selection is not only a handsome addition to the volume but also provides the reader with important visual evidence of the impact that various uses of gilding, niello, and other surface treatments have on the appearance of the works of art. The vivacious, coloristic effect of selective gilding, spotted over the surface of Seleucid, Parthian, and some Sasanian silver vessels, is in contrast to the more sober and opulent use of gold to cover the entire surface of the figural design or, alternatively, the entire background on works of mid- to late-Sasanian date. Also evident in these illustrations is the difference in the appearance of leaf and amalgam (mercury) gilding. With the former technique, the artist could control fairly precisely the area gilded, while use of the latter method resulted in an uneven line of spill beyond the borders of the design, a detail visible in the color photographs of nos. 13, 20, and 24. In all probability it was a desire to control and restrict the gilding that led craftsmen by the mid-Sasanian period to apply the liquid amalgam to the background where it could not spread so readily onto the raised surface of the design. A valuable and shrewd observation by Paul Jett is that the dots of tarnish difficult to remove from the gilded lynx protome (no. 11) may have been deliberate patination similar to that occurring on some Roman gilded pieces. In addition, the tongue of the animal is missing on this piece, and...