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Bringing the Holy Land Home: The Crusades, Chertsey Abbey, and the Reconstruction of a Medieval Masterpiece

Sasanian crown example

Bowl (Detail), 13th century, ceramic (diameter: 22.2 cm x height: 7.2 cm) Victoria and Albert Museum Image © Victoria and Albert Museum. The Spread Wings Motif on Armenian Steles: Its Meaning and Parallels in Sasanian Art, Iran & The Caucasus, 2010, Vol. 14 Issue 2, p201-232, 32p, 15 Black and White Photographs Black and White Photograph; found on p227. Images cropped and edited by Grace Toshach.

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When was this made?

This green ceramic harpy bowl was made around the year 1250.

Another eastern Mediterranean harpy bowl made around the same time, from the Victoria and Albert Museum, depicts the harpy wearing a crown that seems to be influenced by an early Sasanian traditions. The Sasanians were pre-Islamic rulers or Persia or Iran. This motif of spreading wings was common imagery used to depict crowns on Sasanian rulers.