Among the slave-armies of the Samanid Empire, two great military families arose: the Simjurids and the Ghaznavids. These slave-warriors threw off the shackles of their masters, and eventually earned positions in the Samanid government, with the help of the Turkic civilian administrators. Eventually, candidates from the two former slave families were put forward to the throne; Alp Tigin, the Ghaznavid candidate, was overlooked, and instead retired to the Hindu Kush, where he took the city of Ghazna by force. From this seat, the Ghaznavids ruled as semi-official governors of the eastern portion of the Samanid Empire. But the machinations of these two slave families accelerated the Samanid decline; the Ghaznavids saw opportunity in this weakness, and took control of the Empire under Sebüktigin and his son and successor Mahmud. The new Ghaznavid Empire stretched from India in the east to Iran in the west. Ghazna itself became a flourishing centre for the arts, and especially for metalworking, which reached new heights under the dynasty.

It is one of the succeeding Ghaznavid rulers – perhaps the enthusiastic builder-sultan Mas'ūd III – who is depicted on this remarkable hemispheric bowl. He sits in the centre of the composition, cross-legged, on some kind of decorated plinth. He brings one hand to his chest, while the other rests on his knee. His sumptuous robes fall loosely over his body, and he wears on his head a distinctive crown, drawn from Sasanian exemplars, with two rectangular prongs rising from it. He glances down at one of his attendants, who presents him with a bowl of fruit. On his other side, another attendant waits watchfully. Below him are two lions, who guard the royal image, surrounded by vegetal motifs. In the next register, surrounding the image of the king, is a depiction of a Ghaznavid army – the basis on which the dynasty won power. Spearmen with round shields and pointed helmets march purposefully, their legs exaggerated in length compared to their tiny bodies, which are entirely hidden by their shields. The ranks of soldiers are punctuated with images of horses, some laden with supplies, and others bearing cavalrymen with lances. Around the rim of the bowl is an inscription in Kufic script. This inscription is repeated around the outside of the bowl, which is otherwise decorated with an interlocking vegetal motif of a clearly Persian design. There is a some green patina evident on the rim and towards the centre of the bowl.

Ghaznavid footless hemispherical bowls, made out of a complex alloy sometimes known as ‘high tin’, are noted for their bright surface, resonant quality, and resistance to bronze disease. The bowls are often highly decorated, but elaborate figural schemes are quite rare, with most such bowls decorated only with geometric designs. The purpose of these figural bowls is unknown; their decoration certainly suggests that they were used in a secular context. But the Kufic inscription on a bowl in the Khalili Collection (MTW924) praises the drinking of wine, so it is possible that these bowls were used in royal or elite banquets for the sharing or consumption of wine.