Galerie Golconda

Ritual vessel made of a smooth orange terracotta. The body composed of two conjoined spheres with a semi-circular handle at back, the vessel resting on two tubular fore-legs, with a long cylindrical neck terminating in a stag’s head with the pouring hole emerging from the end of the muzzle. The stag with punched circular eyes, the mouth of the vessel is rising with a short cylindrical neck from the back of the stag. Very fine condition. Some ancient repairs are possible. Rhytons were vessels exclusively dedicated to ceremonial libations. It seems their origin belongs to the prehistoric times of Eurasia, but from the 2nd Millenium onward it is the Greek and the populations of the Mediterranean area that created most of them. Those from Iran are amongst the most refined.