Reliquary with Contents

A squat, globular stone vessel with a short stepped knob on its lid, its surface incised with a row of upright lotus petals and a band of scrolling motifs. The greenish-grey stone shows wear and tooling marks, set against a plain grey backdrop. The form matches a reliquary container of the kind used in ancient Gandharan Buddhist sites.

Look closer: Fine concentric grooves are carved in the knob at the top of the lid.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 2nd–3rd century

Medium

Schist with objects of copper, gold, pearl, shell, glass, stone and coral

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

4000 × 3001 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Doris Wiener, 1989