This vessel is chased with Parsi iconography. It depicts Parsi priests preparing offerings to the dead and notably a priest is shown attending to the sacred fire. Fire is the most important element in Zoroastrianism and all rituals are to be solemnized in its presence. Such vessels are used during the Parsi ceremony of muktad, the annual prayers for the dead. It represents a celebration of the festival of Fravardigan in the last ten days of the Parsi calendar when the souls of the dead and their fravashis (guardian spirits) descend to earth. During this festival, drink and arrangements of fruit and flowers are prepared in Zoroastrian homes, and a fire is kept burning to ward off evil spirits, and to sanctify the ritual.
