Parthian Terracotta Rhyton with a Zoomorphic Spout

Culture: Parthian

Period: Late 1st millennium B.C.

Material: Terracotta

Dimensions: 18.2 cm long

Price: 2 400 Euro

Ref: 6624

Provenance: Austrian private collection Prof. Josef Mairitsch (1938-1994) with the inventory number 16A. Acquired between 1960 and the early 1980s. Thence in the family estate. With a collection note.

Condition: Intact

Description: Rare zoomorphic rhyton of reddish clay with white paint. The bulbous vessel has at the back a large, funnel-shaped pouring hole and at the front a small spout in form of an animal head. The priest closed the spout with his finger during the ceremony and opened it to sacrifice the precious liquid drop by drop. The round, stylized animal head (a horned draft animal?) with circular eyes pierced in the centre, a cylindrical mouth and three uniform horns (the middle one maybe a mop of hair?). Painted white bands over the face and around the head, which continue on the back of the vessel, could be interpreted as bridle of the domesticated animal. A rare vessel with an interesting zoomorphic depiction and paint. See for the type the rhyton with stag head in the Louvre with the inventory number AO 21414.