Vase with Bird Motif

The figural imagery on this vessel is repeated, identical roundels on each side of the vase framed by split-palmette vegetal patterns arranged in vertical sprays. Geometric designs border the object's shoulder. The neck is unadorned and hammered.  
Traces of coloured gilding are still visible, indicating the object was a high court artwork. Suppose it was made in the early Islamic period in Iran or Central Asia. In that case, it certainly dates from the 7th-8th century period when Arab and Sogdian armies battled for control, and the strength and importance of pre-Islamic cultural forces are still evident in the visual culture that continued to be produced nearly unabated.