Published Parthian Blackware Rhyton w/ Horse Handle

Near East, Parthia, ca. 3rd to 1st century BCE. A sizeable and very finely rendered blackware pottery rhyton featuring the forepart of a horse at the front of an otherwise cylindrical vessel that gently flares to the rim, with wonderful ridges adorning the section just below the rim, a double perforated lug on one side, and an open spout between the equine's legs, suggesting that this rhyton was used to aerate wine. The horse is skillfully modeled with a voluminous mane, perky ears, large eyes, a pointed muzzle, and hoofed legs. Size: 7.875" L x 4.375" W from lug handle to opposite end x 7.375" H (20 cm x 11.1 cm x 18.7 cm)

The term rhyton stems from a Greek verb that literally means "to run through". In fact, depictions of rhyta on Greek vases demonstrate that rhyta were used to aerate wine. Wine that was poured into the mouth of the vessel would have exited through the spout between the animal's legs. Rhytons like this example demonstrate the ancients' refined taste for special tableware, and this piece was probably used as a pouring vessel to aerate and decant wine into drinking bowls during festive banquets.

Rhytons made from pottery as well as silver and gold were created during the pre-Achaemenid, Achaemenid, as well as Parthian periods. Zoomorphic imagery was favored on these vessels - depictions of horses, rams, bulls, and ibexes - as well as female deities and supernatural creatures. The animal-headed rhyton form was admired and adopted by the ancient Greeks, prized as an exotic creation from the East.

This piece was published in J. Eisenberg, "Art of the Ancient World," 2001, no. 405.

Provenance: ex New York New York, USA collection; ex collection of M. Aaron, acquired in Iran during the late 1970s, imported to England in 1980; published in J. Eisenberg, "Art of the Ancient World," 2001, no. 405.

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#149904
Condition Report: Minute nicks to tip of one ear, hooves, rim, spout between the legs, and areas around the perforations through the lug handle. Loss to underside around a drill hole, perhaps for TL testing. There is what appears to be another TL hole on interior of the rim. Surface is graced with burnishing marks, deposits, and root marks. Stable hairline fissure and abrasions on underside.