Luristan Terracotta Vessel with a Zoomorphic Spout

Culture: Iran/Luristan

Period: 900-800 B.C.

Material: Terracotta

Dimensions: 12.4 cm x 19.3 cm

Price: 1 200 Euro

Ref: 6523

Provenance: German private collection, acquired prior to 1975 from the Munich gallery Kress.

Condition: Intact

Description: Terracotta cult vessel formed by hand from the western Iranian province Luristan. The spherical corpus is flat at the bottom and slightly indented. The large pouring hole on top is worked out as a sieve, so that the offered libation only consists of a pure liquid. The spout is zoomorphically formed and depicts the head of a stylized ibex. The eyes are pierced below the horns, the horns themselves reach as bars to the rim of the vessel. At the back a semi-circular handle. The jug is a rare variation of the otherwise usual beak-spouted jugs, whose spouts have the form of stylized birds. See for this type another jug, whose spout is worked out in the form of a horned animal in the British Museum with the Registration Number 1933, 1211.1.