An Amlash pottery bull rhyton

An Amlash pottery bull rhyton
Circa early 1st Millennium B.C.
The hollow vessel with large rump and prominent neck hump, the muzzle extending into a long spout, with crescentic horns, small pierced ears and vertical ridges for the dewlap and tail, on four tapering legs, 20.5cm high, 32cm long

Provenance:
Mr Theodore Monell collection, Brooklyn, NY, whose collection was mostly formed in the 1970's-1980's.
US art market, 2020.
Accompanied by an Thermoluminescence Test from Oxford Authentication Ltd.

It has been suggested that vessels such as this bull rhyton may have been used in a secular context for the drinking of wine. For a discussion on whether ceramic rhytons were used for the domestic consumption of wine and other fluids or as libation vessels at religious ceremonies see A. C. Gunter, 'The Art of Eating and Drinking in ancient Iran' in Asian Art, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, vol. 1, no. 2, Spring 1988, pp.11-14. The rhyton first appeared in Iran in the 4th Millennium B.C. and continued to be used throughout the Pre-Islamic period. An 11th Century Persian dictionary gives the definition of the rhyton as 'a bull or cow formed of pottery, gold or other materials used for the drinking of wine'. However Hittite texts found in Turkey (circa 1450-1200 B.C.) refer to the use of animal-shaped rhytons for making ritual libations of wine or beer to certain deities. It is quite possible that rhytons were used for both purposes and that deities were being made offerings of drink in imitation of everyday domestic meals (ibid.).