Large, buff earthenware vessel with moulded and
incised decoration and traces of original pigment;
wide mouth with everted rim gives way to large
swelling before tapering through narrow neck to
forepart of recumbent caprid with pierced
swelling
to breast; narrow, highly stylized head with
incised
and stippled detailing set into thick, powerful
neck;
elongated, concave-sided snout forming spout
with
large, circular eyes, flanked by triangular ears,
crowned by curling horns which join at apex;
stylized curling mane at back of head.
The Medes were an ancient Iranian people who
lived
in an area known as Media (North-western Iran
and
south-east Turkey).
Rhytons were ancient vessels used for drinking
wine.
Wine would have been poured in at one end and
would have flowed out, in this case, from the
sides
of the ram, which are drilled for this purpose. The
name comes from the Greek rhyta, meaning to
run
through.
Rhytons date back to the Bronze Age and were
used
by both Minoans and Mycenaean’s. In ancient
Cyprus
in particular there is a long and prevalent tradition
for these vessels throughout the Bronze Age and
through commerce and close contact with the
Aegean and Mycenaean settlement in late 13th
century BCE the praxis spread to mainland
Greece.
Intermittent periods of Persian rule from 8th
century
onwards likely lent to the appropriation of the
vessel
by the Persians.
While the concept may be Hellenic, the vessel
terminating in an animal is believed to have
originated in Persia and later spread to other
peoples by trade and military campaigns.
Persian kings and commanders often took
rhytons
with them on military campaigns. Treasures had
to
be small and portable so they could be carried to
wherever warring factions were fighting. The
Greek
historian Herodotus described the aftermath of
the
Battle of Platea between Greeks and Persians in
479
BCE. During a raid on the Persian camp, the
victorious Greeks found many rythons in gold and
silver, which served as inspiration for later Greek
rhytons.
There are several extant examples from Central
Asia
dating to 5th century BCE, which similarly
terminate
in the forepart of an animal, mostly horses. One
example in particular, with a lynx terminal, is also
decorated with grapevine leaves. The
arrangement
of the concentric circles at the top of the vessel
as
pendant clusters of three may well be interpreted
as
a stylized grapevine derived from Hellenic
sources
after the conquests of Alexander the Great during
4th century BCE. The tooled concentric circle is
a
popular and widely intimated motif in Persian art
and can be seen across a plethora of mediums.
The choice of animal was dictated by the beliefs
of
the culture that produced the vessel. The
passage of
wine through the ram may have been a sacred
rite –
a consecration of the liquid within.
A warriors prized possession, this fascinating
object
elucidates the cross-pollination of cultures
between
ancient peoples, a love of wine and the most
treasured objects of the ancient peoples.
- (LO.936)
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