Photo of collection object Large Dish Depicting Fish
Coptic. Large Dish Depicting Fish, 6th century C.E.. Clay, slip, 4 3/4 x 18 11/16 in. (12 x 47.5 cm). By exchange, 42.408. Creative Commons-BY.

Large Dish Depicting Fish

6th century C.E.

Coptic

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

The dish displayed here was used to serve fish. Fish were important symbols to Romans, Christians, and Jews in the ancient world, and the act of eating fish could therefore take on a degree of symbolic significance. Jews ate fish at the beginning of the Sabbath in this period in anticipation of the meal to be served at the start of the Messianic Age, when the faithful would dine on the flesh of the sea monster Leviathan. And within the Christian tradition, in the earliest depictions of the Last Supper the main course was fish.
Maker/Artist
Coptic
Classification
Vessel
Formatted Medium
Clay, slip
Medium
clay, slip
Dimensions
4 3/4 x 18 11/16 in. (12 x 47.5 cm)
Accession Number
42.408
Credit Line
By exchange
Rights Statement
Creative Commons-BY
Dominant Colors

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