Copeland & Garrett porcelain whippet's head stirrup cup, c. 1833-1847
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Pottery rhyton (ritual vessel) in the form of a bull's head. Hollow, with an opening at the back and a hole in the muzzle.
Period: Hittite Empire. Date: ca. 14th–13th century B.C.. Geography: Central Anatolia. Culture: Hittite. Medium: Silver, gold inlay. Dimensions: H. 18 cm....
golden rhytons, plates, and ewers with fantastic figurations of humans and animals
The individual characters oozing from these ceramic zoomorphic pouring vessels (rhytons) are just adorable. Found in northern Iran and date to first millennium BC. #MuseumsUnlocked #Ceramics
Borovo Treasure. Discovered in 1974 near the then village of Borovo, Rousse district. The treasure consists of five silver vessels: a large bowl (Jug-Rhyton) and four other rhytons that represent horns. Silver
The Panagyurishte treasure, named after a tongue-twisting town in Bulgaria, is a masterpiece of Thracian worksmanship. It consists of a phiale, an amphora and seven rhytons, all made of solid 24-carat gold. The treasure weighs a total of 6.164 kg (13.5 pounds) and is arguably the single most valuable set of artifacts ever found on…
This vessel belongs to a rare class of glazed ceramic rhytons with female heads and animal-shaped spouts. The upper part is in the form of a vase with one handle (now lost). It appears as a tall bulbous crown above the head (made from two half-molds), which displays puffy cheeks, thickly lined eyes and brows, and small lips
Horn vessel of graduated colour, tapers at one end and sculpted in the shape of a kneeling ram wearing collar; tooled decoration to shaft consisting of tooled concentric circles to the base and head of the shaft; two incisions. Rhytons were ancient vessels used for drinking wine. Wine would have been poured in at one end and would have flowed out, in this case, from the sides of the ram, which are drilled for this purpose. The name comes from the Greek rhyta, meaning to run through. Rhytons date back to the Bronze Age and were used by both Minoans and Mycenaean’s. In ancient Cyprus in particular there is a long and prevalent tradition for these vessels throughout the Bronze Age and through commerce and close contact with the Aegean and Mycenaean settlement in late 13th century BCE the praxis spread to mainland Greece. Intermittent periods of Persian rule from 8th century onwards likely lent to the appropriation of the vessel by the Persians. While the concept may be Hellenic, the horn terminating in an animal is believed to have originated in Persia and later spread to other peoples by trade and military campaigns. Persian kings and commanders often took rhytons with them on military campaigns. Treasures had to be small and portable so they could be carried to wherever warring factions were fighting. The Greek historian Herodotus described the aftermath of the Battle of Platea between Greeks and Persians in 479 BCE. During a raid on the Persian camp, the victorious Greeks found many rythons in gold and silver, which served as inspiration for later Greek rhytons. There are several extant examples from Central Asia dating to 5th century BCE, which similarly terminate in the forepart of an animal, mostly horses. One example in particular, with a lynx terminal, is also decorated with grapevine leaves. The arrangement of the concentric circles at the top of the vessel as pendant clusters of three may well be interpreted as a stylized grapevine derived from Hellenic sources after the conquests of Alexander the Great during 4th century BCE. The tooled concentric circle is a popular and widely intimated motif in Persian art and can be seen across a plethora of mediums. The choice of animal was dictated by the beliefs of the culture that produced the vessel. The passage of wine through the ram may have been a sacred rite – a consecration of the liquid within. A warriors prized possession, this fascinating object elucidates the cross-pollination of cultures between ancient peoples, a love of wine and the most treasured objects of the ancient peoples.
Silver (partially gilt), Late Classical, early 4th century B.C.E., local work under Greek influence, allegedly from the region of the Black Sea Weight: 815.33 g.; H. 28 cm. The body of the vessel roughly shaped by repeatedly hammering and annealing as it is raised [1] from a dish of silver sheet, in a technique that is called raising or back raising possibly on a wooden stake in a step-by-step operation followed by planishing to smooth out the ridges. In view of its varying diameter the shapes were knocked out by the artist as he went along, proceeding by sections in repoussé from the inside out and working in both directions. This work divided in three stages: the elaboration of the base with its two feline-mask spouts, the working of the flat sheet up to the top of the foreheads, and the raising and hammering in of the sheet, shaping it in and then out to flare at the mouth, hammering a thickened rim before cutting off any excess metal and finishing with a guilloche tongue pattern on the edge. To work from the outside the body is filled with either bitumen/pitch or with a mixture of powdered sulphur rock and fine sand, heated to render fluid. Once hardened, shaping can proceed [2]. In this vessel all the details were chased with bronze punches and chisels. The lips and noses were repoussé from the inside as were the upper eyelids. The hair was outlined using fine chasing tools. The ibex [3] handles solid-cast in silver and elaborately worked in the cold before fixing onto the vessel by soldering; they were then partially gilt as were different parts of the vessel's body. All the gilding done by burnishing on gold leaf. Condition: a rip and break on the edge of the mouth restored; the handles reattached, one of them missing the leaf attached to lower front knees that would have helped to fix it to the neck of the vessel under the rim. A crack with a little metal missing on the upper neck of the vessel below this handle and further down the metal worn through. A hole (or gash) beneath the lower lip of the male head, his chin slightly indented. A blow to the thick edge of the base. The gilding worn slightly here and there. This double-headed [4] vase is unique for its shape, with a male and a female head back to back, and with ibex handles. It is, with the rhytons, cat. nos. 152 and 154, and the one from Tarentum [5], among the earliest of such vessels. Examples in precious metal are known from recent discoveries in the north: Panagyurishte, Rozovets and Borovo in Bulgaria, and from old and more recent finds in South Russia. Less stylized and somewhat decadent is a later gold hoard from Panagyurishte [6] with a generally accepted date at the end of the 4th, beginning of the 3rd century B.C.; similar for the use of a head - single ones here - which have a lion protome-spout at the base. There is a resemblance for the turban around the hair tied in a bow with a metal hair ornament over the forehead below it. Little gold heads were used as pendants, ear-rings and surmounting spiral ornaments, see cat. no. 161, as of the 4th century. Particular details of our vase are the ear-studs worn by the female head, the necklaces around both necks with the lion spouts as pendants, and especially the Achaemenid-type handles in the form of ibexes. The workmanship of the hair, of the necklaces, of the egg-and-dart and beaded rim, though different, seems to have some affinity with Thracian output, whether it be the bull-rhyton [7] from the Borovo treasure, first half of the 4th century, the greave [8] from the Vratsa treasure dated 380-350 B.C., or the silver gilt plaques [9] from the Letnitsa treasure dated 400-350 B.C. On the greave, though the hairstyle is different, formed of little curls, both these, the fringe and the locks are executed technically as on our vessel; the fine strokes for the eyebrows and eyelashes on our heads find a parallel in the strokes on the inside of the outline of the eyelids. The execution of the figures on all the above parallels is somewhat coarse and awkward. This must be the creation of a superior craftsman working under Greek influence save for the handles of which the model and the subject are Achaemenid, though probably executed by the same artisan. Greek goldsmiths from Classical times onwards worked for Thracian kings and Scythian princes, the Persian satraps and the wealthy Greeks of the Ionian coast. It is an early vessel such as this one, with rhytons, cat. nos. 152 and 154, that must be at the inception of production that led to the Panagyurishte treasure. The workmanship of this rhyton is probably Thracian and the expression of the heads resembles those on the above-mentioned four plaques that are later in date and local Thracian. Though the female head is more attractive than the male, they both have the rather boorish unrefined features of the faces on Thracian works. J. Dörig [10] assigns a date around 370 B.C. and suggests that the female head may represent the Thracian goddess Kotys paired with Attis, who has the traits of a youth. We would like to think that this vessel could have been a marriage present for a princely occasion which would have permitted, instead of the modern kiss, that bride and groom drink from it simultaneously. Exhibited and Published: Hommes et Dieux, cat. no. 110, pp. 185 col. pl., 186-187. Published: Dörig, J.: Les trésors d'orfèvrerie thrace, RdA Suppl. 3, 1987, no. 15, p. 19. Mentioned: Vickers, M. et al.: From Silver to Ceramic (Oxford, 1986), pl. 22. - Pfrommer, M.: Ein achämenidisches Amphorenrhyton mit ägyptischem Dekor, AMI 23, 1990, p. 197 n. 44, with further references. 1 In the initial stages a hollowed-out tree trunk may be used, laying the silver sheet over it and working it down. 2 After having fulfilled its purpose, the core can be made fluid again by heating and removed. 3 Possibly of the caucasica species. 4 Vessels in the form of a head, see cat. no. 92, and double-headed were made in terracotta from the Archaic period onwards. However, it is only during the Hellenistic period that one finds them made in metal (bronze). 5 See cat. no. 152, footnote 6. 6 Svoboda, B., Concev, D.: Neue Denkmäler antiker Toreutik. Monumenta Archaeologica IV (Prague, 1956). 7 Maier, J.-L.: L'Or des Thraces. Trésors de l'art et de la culture thraces dans les terres bulgares (Mainz, 1980-81), no. 286, pp. 144, 136 pl. 8 See footnote 7: no. 289, pp. 146, 138 pl. 9 See footnotes 7, 8: nos. 266, 267, 271, 276, pp. 140-142, 133 pl. 10RdA Suppl. 3, 1987, no. 15, p. 19. Text from the website of George Ortiz.
Silver (partially gilt), Late Classical, ca. 400 B.C.E., provincial Greek work, Allegedly from the Black Sea Region Weight: 829.24 g.; L. 29 cm. The body of the vessel roughly formed [1] from a silver sheet cut into a disc, hammered into dish shape [2]. From time to time, during the whole fabrication process, the dish had to be annealed (heated to cherry red) to resoften the silver hardened and rendered brittle by repeated hammering. The dish was held against an anvil and working around it hammered from the bottom upwards to raise the sides; gradually a beaker form would have been born. This was then hammered over various shaped stakes to produce the general form of the rhyton, the surface then planished to smooth out the ridges and heavy hammer marks. The final shaping was carried out by the repoussé method which is forming the design by beating out the shape and details from the inside and outside as required, using a variety of punches. Bitumen/pitch or a mixture of powdered sulphur rock and fine sand would have been used to support the vessel during this process. After the repoussé work details such as the downy skin over the forehead and muzzle and the little hairs around the snout and below the mouth were chased in. The inner corners of the eyes are accentuated with niello [3], as were once the nostrils and the mouth (as indicated by remains). Ears hammered and shaped from a sheet of silver cut to size, each with a flaring base, held in place by three rivets [4] hammered down near its burnished edge. The antlers cast and inserted by means of a projecting plug that is affixed into a pipe-like section on the inside, held in place by solder. The handle forged into shape and soldered onto the vessel. All the gilding done by burnishing on gold leaf [5]. Condition: central hole in lower lip for short spout filled in and two holes for spouts made in antiquity on either side - spouts now missing. Nostrils torn with metal missing. Eyes, probably once of enamel or glass paste - inlays appropriate to the depth of the orbits. The helmets, spears, shields, scabbards and their straps, swords of figures, and the latters' pubic hair, gilt, as are the antlers, insides of ears, both palmettes of the handle and the rim of the vessel. Slightly worn here and there. Tips of ears slightly distorted, restored to shape, left antler broken and reaffixed. Handle slightly twisted, straightened out before affixing. This rhyton, the largest so far known of several examples, is particularly interesting for the frieze of six naked warriors fighting around its wide neck. Five of them are beardless and all have their heads covered with different types of helmets and carry shields and scabbards. Over the deer's forehead two pairs of sturdy youths advance towards each other. Behind its right antler, the front figure, wearing a pilos, with anguished expression and lips grimacing in fear, faces a figure, wearing a Corinthian helmet, about to jab his adversary with a spear held high in his right hand. His companion, wearing a petasos, backs him up with shield and spear in similar position. On the other side, the supporting figure aggressively rushes forward, sword at the ready in his lowered right hand, wearing an Attic helmet, decorated with a spiral motif which continues the outer curved line of the top of the helmet and with cheek-guards raised. At the back next to the handle, there is another duel. A youthful figure flees and looks behind in anguish as he draws his sword, while an older bearded man is vigorously thrusting with a spear, its point seemingly already buried in the youth's shield. Both figures wear a pilos. None have any body armour, except helmets. If they are meant for Greeks, or even Thracians, nothing in their dress or features betrays it. An interesting detail of the frieze is the foreshortening and the positioning of the sometimes overlapping lower legs and feet. Are these scenes purely decorative ? The closest parallel is the famous rhyton from Tarentum in Trieste [6] which J. Dörig dates 420 B.C., while he places our example around 380 [7]. M. Pfrommer [8] dates the Trieste deer around 400 and ours still in the 5th century [9]. This is not the place for detailed comparisons with all other known examples, whether from Bulgaria, Thrace, South Russia, the Hellespont, Asia Minor and even Egypt. However, it should be noted that if the other examples show an Achaemenid influence, our rhyton is, M. Pfrommer says, the only exception. Thus we call it provincial Greek work, and unlike many of the others known, it is probably not from a Persian satrapy. It may be that this rhyton is still to be dated towards the end of the 5th century and it can be observed that the head of the stag itself is less sensitive than the deer's head, cat. no. 154, where the decoration bears closer resemblance to vessels found in South Russia. Thus, though the two rhytons and the Janus-headed amphora, cat. no. 153, are from the same ambience, all three are by different hands and in all likelihood from different workshops. Exhibited and Published: The Search for Alexander, cat. no. 53, pp. 128-129 ill., col. pl. 6. Published: Dörig, J.: Les trésors d'orfèvrerie thrace, RdA Suppl. 3, 1987, no. 13, p. 18. Melikian-Chirvani, A.S.: L'emblème de gloire solaire d'un roi iranien du Pont, in: Altman Bromberg, C. (ed.): Iranian Studies in Honor of A.D.H. Bivar, BAsInst, New Series, vol. 7, 1993, p. 23 ff., fig. 4, 7. Mentioned: Pfrommer, M.: Italien-Makedonien-Kleinasien. Interdependenzen spätklassischer und frühhellenistischer Toreutik, JdI 98, 1983, p. 274 n. 190. - id.: Ein Grab - Drei Kulturen, IstMitt 43, 1993, p. 343 n. 29. 1 The firm of Plowden & Smith Ltd. has performed the conservation work on this rhyton and the two catalogue entries 153 and 154. We are deeply indebted to Peter Smith and Peter Willett for discussing technical details and enlightening us with respect to the technology employed in the making of such vessels. 2 In the initial stages, a hollowed-out tree trunk may be used, laying the silver sheet over the cavity and working it down. 3 Niello is a metal sulphide and usually inlaid in prepared cloisons or incisions. 4 Directly affixed to the wall of the head (not to a disc, as rhyton, cat. no. 154). 5 See footnote 1, both Peter Smith and Peter Willett had assured us, notwithstanding our strong objection that the gilding was peeling in places, that all three vessels, cat. nos. 152, 153 and 154, were mercury gilt. Upon re-examining the group with A. Giumlia-Mair (26-27 November 1994) we came to the conclusion that none of the three vessels were mercury gilt. 6 Museo Civico: Dörig, J.: RdA Suppl. 3, 1987, no. 5, pp. 8-9, pl. 1 7 Dörig, J.: op. cit., no. 13, pp. 18-19. 8 Pfrommer, M.: JdI 98, 1983, p. 267. 9 Pfrommer, M.: op. cit., p. 274. Text from the website of George Ortiz.
