Tripod bowl
Unknown Artist
2nd millennium BCE
Medium
Ceramic
Dimensions
6 in. (15.24 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Vessels
Period
Middle–Late Bronze Age
Department
Ancient Near Eastern Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Warren A. Silver, 1954
Accession Number
54.55.15
Art Historical Context
This elegant tripod bowl, crafted by an unknown artist during the Middle–Late Bronze Age (2nd millennium BCE), exemplifies the ceramic traditions of the Ancient Near East. Standing just 6 inches (15.24 cm) tall, its three sturdy legs elevate the shallow basin, providing stability on uneven surfaces—a practical innovation for a vessel likely used in households, rituals, or communal feasts. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's of Ancient Near Eastern Art it entered the collection as a gift from Warren A. Silver in 1954. In the Bronze Age Near East—from Mesopotamia to the Levant—potters ma...