Buff Ware Rhyton from Deve Hüyük

Accession Number: BM 108663

Collection: British Museum

Buff Ware Rhyton

Roughly-made, perhaps on a pottery wheel. Broken animal head terminal, probably a horned goat as Moorey 1980 no. 66. The detailing of the animal head is rendered in clay appliqués. Damaged also at the top. Length of 11.5 inches; volume of 1070 ml (or about 2 pints). Moorey 1980 no. 67.

The rhyton with animal-head terminal is a highly characteristic Achaemenid form of drinking vessel, found both in precious metals and in clay in a wide range of Achaemenid contexts; although not depicted in the Apadana reliefs, they appear in other artistic contexts (e.g. there are several examples depicted on the Nereid monument). For a good short discussion, see E. Dusinberre, Empire, Authority and Autonomy in Achaemenid Anatolia (2013), 131-2. This is one of two simple clay rhyta from the Deve Hüyük assemblage; the other is on display in the Near East gallery of the Ashmolean museum.  This page also includes a high-status example in silver with gold appliqués, also from the British Museum.