This silver bowl is decorated with scenes from the Persian epic Shahnameh. The inscriptions date the bowl to 1310 A.H., corresponding to 1892 A.D., and identify the artist, Mahmoud Shirazi, as an Iranian Shirazi silversmith. The bowl also depicts Zoroastrian motifs like sun worship and fire vessels, as well as Indian floral decoration. Zoroastrianism was the state religion for three ancient Persian empires, and was displaced by Islam after the 7th century Muslim conquest. Parsis are followers of Zoroastrianism in India. Thus, it is also possible that Mahmoud Shirazi migrated to India or was a Parsi influenced by Indian silversmithing.
