Figure

This small brass figure, whose original use is unknown, represents a standing figure holding a cup. In the pre-Islamic Central Asian Turkic nomadic world, ceremonies involving the drinking of wine from cups were associated with kingship and investiture, and implied the establishment and display of social hierarchies. Among the many representations of this period, are stone statues depicting a standing or squatting cup-bearer which were found in funerary contexts.

A legacy of these cup rites persisted among the Seljuqs and is attested in contemporary iconography. Here, however, wine drinking ceremonies were mostly part of the ruler’s pleasures, and cup-bearers were among his boon companions.

Credit: Rogers Fund, 1968