Important Urartian Vessel in Form of a Wineskin with Animal Heads

Culture: Urartian

Period: 7th century B.C.

Material: Terracotta

Dimensions: 24.5 cm high

Price: 2 800 Euro

Ref: 6521

Provenance: From an old German private collection. Auction with Gorny & Mosch on 14 December 2007 (incorrectly described as Roman terra sigillate ware), lot 416.

Condition: Partially traces of encrustation, otherwise intact.

Description: Large and important vessel of the Urartian Red Polish Ware (Toprakkale ceramics) in form of a wineskin with animal heads. The surface is covered with a slip (slip glaze) of red clay and finely polished, maybe with leather. The base rounded, the corpus slightly pulled in in the centre, on the narrow side on both sides two raised ribs. Two stylized animal heads sit on top. The round spout itself as a wide-open mouth of an animal with two small protruding ears on the outside. Opposite, a sculptural head of a bull (?) with pierced eyes on the sides, raised ears and forehead wrinkles. A large horn slightly set off in direction of the spout. See for the Urartian Red Polish Ware, which should imitate metal, and whose vessels often were used as votive offerings: Aylin Ümit Erdem “Urtartian Pottery”, Ege University Dezember 2021, p. 263-266. Mounted.