Spouted vessel with gazelle protome

Object Details

• Description

  Rhyton with compact horn and protome in the form of a gazelle's head. A small tubular spout, damaged, protudes from the mouth. The lower part of the horn is fluted; on the upper part of the horn, above the scalloped edge of the fluting, is a bifurcated file of animals approaching a central tree: recumbent caprid, lion, trilobed tree with sinuous trunk, humped bull, caprid. The fur is represented by overall hatched lines; the figures are spot-gilded.

  Above the frieze, a twisted band encircles the horn; between the band and the rim is a row of disks. The rim is rolled over and thickened on the exterior. Gilded details are: twisted bands around horns and behind head, nose, two flutes on underside of horn, parts of repoussé animals.

• Label

  Vessels made entirely or in part in the shape of an animal, in both metal and ceramic versions, have a long history in ancient Iran. Only a few examples of this vessel type, however, have surfaced among artifacts of the Sasanian period (ca. 224–651). Chiefly influenced by Roman and Byzantine prototypes and to some extent by Central Asian styles, Sasanian silver plate seldom drew on traditional Iranian vessel forms. Horned animals, such as the ram and this gazelle, appear as quarry on some of the Sasanian silver and gilt plates depicting a royal hunt. With its animal-shaped protome (forepart) joined to a compact horn and furnished with a spout through the animal's mouth, this is an extremely rare example dating from the Sasanian period. This type of vessel embodies an important image and concept: a special liquid, probably wine, was contained in and dispensed from the mouth of an animal that itself held powerful, royal connotations.

• Provenance

  By 1966

  Farhadi and Anavian Collection, New York, New York by October 1966 [1]

  By 1967

  R. & D. Anavian, Tehran, Iran and New York, New York by May 1967 [2]

  From 1967 to 1987

  Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987), New York, purchased on May 2, 1967 likely in Tehran, Iran [3]

  From 1987

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, New York [4]

  Notes:

  [1] At the time of the publication of Dorothy Shepherd’s article on the rhyton, the piece was in the collection of Farhadi and Anavian, New York. See Dorothy Shepherd, “Two Silver Rhyta,” Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 53 (1966), 300 fig. 11. See also object file.

  [2] See invoice dated May 2, 1967, copy in object file, Collections Management Office.

  [3] See note 2.

  [4] Pursuant to the agreement between Dr. Arthur M. Sackler and the Smithsonian Institution, dated July 28, 1982, legal title of the donated objects was transferred to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on September 11, 1987.

• Collection

  Arthur M. Sackler Collection

• Exhibition History

  Persia: Ancient Iran and the Classical World (April 6, 2022 to August 8, 2022)

  Animal-Shaped Vessels from the Ancient World: Feasting with the Gods, Heroes and Kings (September 7, 2018 to January 6, 2019)

  Feast Your Eyes: A Taste for Luxury in Ancient Iran (February 4, 2012 - ongoing)

  Glass, Gilding, and Grand Design: Art of Sasanian Iran (224-642) (February 14 to May 20, 2007)

  Les Perses sassanides (224-642): Fastes d'un empire oublie (September 15 to December 30, 2006)

  Le Perses Sassanides ou les Fastes d'un empire oublie (The Persian Sasanians, Luxury Goods from a Forgotten Empire)" (September 15, 2006 to May 20, 2007)

  Antioch: The Lost Roman City (October 7, 2000 to December 30, 2001)

  Weihrauch und Seide: Geld und Lexus aus dem Antiken Orient (January 21, 1996 to April 14, 1996)

  Incense and Silk: Ancient Cultures Along the Silk Road (January 22 to April 14, 1996)

  Luxury Arts of the Silk Route Empires (May 9, 1993 to January 28, 2007)

  Nomads and Nobility: Art from the Ancient Near East (September 28, 1987 to November 1, 1992)

  Treasures from the Smithsonian Institution at the Royal Scottish Museum (August 11, 1984 to November 5, 1984)

  The Royal Hunter: Art of the Sasanian Empire (Winter 1978)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

  R. & D. Anavian

  Farhadi and Anavian Co. (active early 1960s-1973)

• Origin

  Iran or Afghanistan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  300s, 400s

• Name

  Sackler, Arthur M., Farhadi and Anavian Co., R. & D. Anavian

• Place

  Afghanistan

• Topic

  Gilding, Repoussé, Silver, Cats, Art, Animals, Ancient Near Eastern Art, Gazelle, Sasanian period (ca. 224 - 651), Bulls, Chasing, Metal-work

• Culture

  Iranians, Middle Easterners

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)