They are rare and important exemplars of Kushan art of the 1st or 2nd centuries CE, attesting to the cosmopolitan tastes and patronage of local dynasts, the sophistication of contemporary craftsmanship, and to the ancient trade in luxury goods.

The ancient city of Kapisa (near modern Bagram), in Bactria was the summer capital of the Kushan Empire, which stretched from northern Afghanistan to northwest India between the 1st and the 4th centuries.

Some eighty miles from Kabul, the strategically located city dominated two passes through the Hindu Kush, connecting Bactria with Gandhara (modern north-east Pakistan.

[3] A number of the missing items were located in 2004, and a further group of twenty pieces, illicitly traded by antiquities dealers, was later recovered and is to be repatriated.

Cracks and breaks have been filled with a variety of adhesives, without consolidation of the edge, and differing reconstructions led to the accumulation of residues from previous treatments.

[2][8] Technical analysis by the British Museum provided information on materials and techniques of production, present condition, deterioration phenomena, and previous interventions.

[2][8] The range of motifs include lions, elephants, birds, flowers, female nudes, musicians, dancers, personal ornaments, and architectural backdrops.