A round bowl is on a tray. Image of a young couple surrounded by birds and animals are engraved on the gilded bottom . A lad in a crown plays the harp, a girl listens to him, her finger is on her lips. The body of the bowl is divided into 12 convex paddles, the images of which alternate. The six paddles are chased the large paired images of lions, griffins and syryns, complemented by small paired images of birds, hares and possibly dogs or wolves. They alternate with the paddles that have the engraved images on the dark niello background. In the star medallions formed by ribbon interweaving there are horsemen with spears and bowls. Spearmen’s heads are uncovered, their waists are accentuated with belts, spurs are visible on their feet. Archers shoot in the Parthian style. They have headdresses with a pole-tops, typical Turkic braids, and lowered waist belts that emphasize the stomach. Smaller figures of lions, griffins and birds are below the images of riders.
The scene depicted on the bottom is based on the typical Byzantine iconography of David and Melody. There are various interpretations of the image: as King David and Melody, as a scene of the Byzantine epic about Digenis Acritus, and as an image of David and Bathsheba, whom considered by the Armenian royal dynasty of Cilicia as their ancestors. Such precious tableware could be made for a certain solemn event: coronation or marriage. Horsemen`s images can be considered warriors or hunters.
The inscription "NAUM" is cut on the lower part of the pallet. The features of the inscription indicate that it was written no earlier than the middle of the 12th century. If this is the name of the owner, he must have belonged to the highest strata, because such a precious tableware with various intricate decorations was intended for palace utensils.
A similar bowl was found in 1925 in the Vilhort village near the Urals. Stylistic and technical features suggest that both bowls were made where Byzantine, Armenian, Iranian, Seljuk and Western European artistic traditions met. Such a place could be the Crusader state or the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia. The question of how one bowl got to the north of Western Siberia and its "sister" ended up in Chernihiv remains open.
