Royal hunts were a popular theme for Sassanian silver and textile alike, featuring images of mounted monarchs attacking lions, rams, boar or deer with bow, spear or sword. It is a particularly common subject on gilt silver platters of the fourth and fifth century, but in the sixth century the hunt gives way to the scenes of royals holding court. Such platters bearing the king's portrait were probably not intended for the general market; rather, they may have been given as gifts to friends of the court. Oftentimes they included inscriptions that not only provide the name of the recipient, but also the platter's weight, so the value of the gift would be clear.¹

This plate depicts an elk hunt featuring the ruler Shapur II (309-79 CE), known by his distinctive crown. It bears a particularly unusual design, for the king has apparently leapt onto the back of his quarry and stabs the creature on the run. Whether such a heroic feat ever occurred or not was probably beside the point, since the message of strength and martial prowess communicated by the image serves its intended propagandistic purpose. Such a flamboyant design was not out of place for Shapur II, who during his reign reclaimed Sassanian territory occupied by the Byzantines and Romans, earning a reputation for both military strength and strategy. Under him the Sassanian Empire reached its zenith, and in acknowledgement of his long and prosperous rule he would later come to be known as "Shapur the Great."

(1) N. N. Chegini and A. V. Nikitin, "Sasanian Iran - Economy, Society, Arts and Crafts," in History of Civilizations of Central Asia, vol. III (Paris: UNESCO Publishing, 1996), p. 71.