Sasanian plate depicting Ardashir I hunting wild boar.

Silver gilt plate depicting the Sasanian ruler Ardashir I hunting wild boar.
Provincial Sasanian.
Late 4th or early 5th century. Discovered in Afghanistan.
Collection: Shelby White.

Reference: Prudence Harper in Bothmer 1990, 58-59, no. 43.

---

    Now we should examine two silver plates recently discovered. The report of one of these was published by F. Grenet and the other, excavated in China, was published by Ma Yuji, Xia Nai, and Ma Yong. The first example (Fig. 6) depicts a royal boar hunt. Although the king shown in the Hermitage plate (Fig. 3) is on horseback, the hunter in this plate is standing on a field. According to Grenet's iconographical analysis, this hunter is identifiable as Ardashir II and this plate was probably made by an artist of the Sasanian official workshop. His analysis and comparative study are quite detailed but the identification of the hunter as Ardashir II is not tenable given the type of crown he is shown wearing and stylistic details in his ribbon-diadems compared with those of the portrait of Ardashir II sculpted at Taq-i Bustan. However, the distinctive rounded shape of the lower part of the caftan worn by this hunter is identical with those of Shahpur II (after 363 A. D.), Ardashir II and Shahpur III of Taq-i Bustan reliefs. Therefore, the date of the production of this plate seems to be late fourth century.
    Another is the positioning of his left leg. It is rendered with knee bent as is the case of the equestrian hunter above mentioned (Fig. 3). Although this kind of rendering is sensible in a case of an equestrian hunter with a charging boar before him (Fig. 3), it does not make sense when the hunter is standing and being charged by a boar from behind. This unusual detail can be best explained by its being considered a mechanical copy of an equestrian hunter with the right knee pulled high up.
    Next the unusual details in the depiction of the two boars should be mentioned. The two boars are not presented, but rather, only their protome is rendered. All the figures fit within a circular frame, as is the case with the Hermitage plate (Fig. 3). However, there is no overlapping between the picture of the boars and the reeds. The boars' protomes emerge directly from out of the circular frame. Furthermore, The boars are not shown emerging from the same direction but from opposite sides. Most of the royal Sasanian plates show two animals advancing from the same direction, and the Hermitage plate (Fig. 3), too, follows this scheme. Thus if it is compared with those plates, this plate's rendering of two animals is unique and suggests a more developed or mechanical arrangement of the games than does the Hermitage plate, which is more faithful to the same-direction orientation of most royal Sasanian plates.
    In conclusion, we may relate this plate to the Hermitage plate (Fig. 3) on the basis of the same bent knee and the representation of the boars' protomes.

(35) F. Grenet, "Un plat sasanide d'Ardashir II (379-383) au bazar de Kabul", Studia Iranica, 12 (1983), pp. 195-204.
(36) Ma Yuji, "Excavation of the Northern Wei Tomb at Huagedatai in Xiaozhancun, City of Datong", Wenwu, No. 8, 1983, pp. 1-4. Xia Nai, "A Sasanian Silver Plate from the Tomb of Feng Hetu of the Northern Wei Dynasty", ibidem, pp. 5-7. Ma Yong, "Notes on the Northern Wei Dynasty Tomb of Feng Hetu and the Persian Silver Plate Unearthed", ibidem, pp. 8-12.
(37) K. Tanabe, op. cit., Fig. 1. P. O. Harper, "A Kushano-Sasanian Silver Bowl", Archaeologia Iranica et Orientalis, Gent, 1989, p. 859.

Source: pp. 56-57, A DISCUSSION OF ONE KUSHANO-SASANIAN SILVER PLATE AND RELATION TO GANDHARAN ART By Katsumi TANABE