English: Plate Decorated with an Eagle Carrying a Woman from Bol’shaia Anikovskaia.
Four Eurasian silver vessel hoards have been found near the present-day village of Bol’shaia Anikovskaia (Большая Аниковская) in the Cherdynskii District (Чердынский Район) of the Perm Province/Krai (Пермский Край) of the Russian Federation. The village is about 20 kilometers south of the city of Cherdyn’, on the right bank of the Vishera River, a tributary of the Kama River.
Place of creation: Iran
Material: silver
Technique: chasing, gilding
Dimensions: diameter: 22,2 cm
Place of finding: USSR, as part of a hoard in Perm region, 1936
Acquisition date: Entered the Hermitage in 1936; handed over from the Local History Museum in Cherdyn
The rare subject on this late Sassanian silver dish has different interpretations in the context of either Zoroastrian or Buddhist mythology, although it might also be perceived as an allegory. Framed by two trees in the central medallion is a flying eagle, who should probably be understood as carrying the soul of one recently dead to the sky. The soul is shown as a naked female figure, who feeds the eagle with the her good deeds.