Spouted vessel

Object Details

• Description

  Vessel with cushion-shaped body and two spouts, intended to suggest a human-headed bird. One spout rises vertically from one side of the body; it flares at the rim. On the upper end of the spout, below the rim, are modeled a human face with schematic impressed eyes and ridge nose, and crescent-shaped ears each pierced with two holes. Opposite the vertical spout, a curved tubular spout, suggesting a tail, extends upward. The vessel rests on three stubby feet.

• Provenance

  To 1966

  Joseph H. Hirshhorn (1899-1981). [1]

  From 1966 to 1986

  Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. [2]

  From 1986

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, transferred from Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See document from the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, object file, Collections Management Office.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] See note 1. See also object file, Collections Management Office.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Joseph H. Hirshhorn (1899-1981)

  Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

• Origin

  Iran

• Credit Line

  Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn to the Smithsonian Institution

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 0s, BCE 1000s

• Name

  Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Hirshhorn, Joseph H.

• Topic

  Iron Age III (ca. 800 - 500 BCE), Art, Animals, Ancient Near Eastern Art, Iron Age II (ca. 1250 - 800 BCE), Birds, Ceramics

• Culture

  Iranians, Middle Easterners

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)