Eros and Psyche on the Medallions of Silver Bowls from Sadovy Kurgan: New Data

Abstract

The set of eight silver bowls excavated in Sadovy kurgan at the urban outskirts of Novocherkassk in 1962 includes a pair of bowls with medallions depicting scenes with Eros and Psyche. The detailed analysis of the element of the feathery pattern that covers the entire inner surface of the bowls reveals that it was applied by different craftsmen, though the bowls themselves were no doubt made in the same workshop. The central figures of the scenes on both medallions are tied to the columns decorated with garlands, on which one can see vessels. Both vessels have a spherical shape; each has a low stand and conical cover, and are the type of turibulum. One of the vessels bears a figure detail soldered to the right upper part of the vessel’s body. The second figure, soldered to the left side, is visible less clearly (fig. 2,2). The described figures look like protomes of griffins on a turibulum. A similar vessel was found in Khokhlach kurgan, and belongs to the objects produced in the 2nd – 1st centuries BC. We conclude that the identified similarity on manufacturing medallions on the bowls from Sadovy kurgan and the turibulum from Khokhlach kurgan most likely relates the finds to the workshops of the same region, probably the Eastern Mediterranean.