Luristan Beak-Spouted Jug with a Twisted Handle and Owl’s Head

Culture: Iran/Luristan

Period: 8th-7th century B.C.

Material: Terracotta

Dimensions: 17.8 cm high

Price: 4 000 Euro

Ref: 6634

Provenance: Austrian private collection Prof. Josef Mairitsch (1938-1994) with the inventory number 41A. Acquired between 1960 and the early 1980s. Thence in the family estate. With a collection note.

Condition: The handle possibly professionally reattached, otherwise wonderfully preserved.

Description: Magnificent beak-spouted jug from Iranian Luristan with wonderfully preserved, dark brown paint and a twisted handle, which is crowned by an owl's head. The vessel of light clay stands on a flat base and has a bulbous, slightly compressed body. From there the separately made spout rises and opens in a slit shape towards the rim. The spout is connected with the rim of the funnel-shaped pouring hole via a small bridge on which the glasses-shaped owl's head rests. The twisted handle protrudes over the pouring hole in a large arc. Where it ends, two more handles split into tails and run in an arc down to the body. The impressively preserved paint depicts a large checkerboard pattern surrounded by dots at the back. On the side there are the hatched dragons typical for Luristan pottery, which frame further checkerboard patterns. On both sides of the shoulder, a chain band made of squares of the same size, bordered by dotted rows, runs forward to the end of the spout. The twisted handle is decorated with a black ribbon, the handles at the back with rows of dots. The extremely high-quality jug dates to the western Iranian Iron Age. See for the type two jugs in the Louvre with the inventory numbers AO 14957 and AO 15782.