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Bowl with Long Beaked-Bird

Byzantine

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 300

A] hunter wore leather gloves and carried the falcon on the back of either hand, preferably the left. The falcon’s feet, with little bells attached to them, were fastened to the hunter’s hand with straps,
which were unfastened when the falcon was released for hunting.
— From Description of Crane Hunting by Constantine Manasses (ca. 1130–87)

Crane hunting was a popular Byzantine sport. The long-beaked bird may be a bird of prey (the hunter) or a waterbird (the hunted).

Bowl with Long Beaked-Bird, Terracotta decorated in sgraffito, Byzantine

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