Feasting Vessels

Ceramic and metal vessels represent some of the most striking artifacts from Ancient Iran. Many of these objects are decorated with themes to evoke peace and plenty - animals, harvest, wine - and in the cases of rhytons, are shaped to resemble various animals, both real and mythological.

Left: Bronze bull rhyton from the Achaemenid period, ca. 550-330 B.C, Louvre. Rhytons were used by attendants at banquets to pour wine for the guests.

Technological and artistic developments in Ancient Iran have left their mark on vessels for eating and drinking. Pottery, one of the most common archaeological finds, provided an inexpensive but durable means to store, transport, and serve food. Ceramics also served as an  important canvas for early artwork through painted and incised images. Metallurgy, used most often for cups, pitchers, and plates, yielded luxury vessels molded with remarkable precision, as illustrated in this British Museum mini-documentary on the making of Sasanian plates. Finally, beginning in the 4th century CE, Iranian artisans fine-tuned the production of glassware along entirely different lines than their Roman counterparts, preferring to cut the glass with dozens of small facets to sparkle in the light.

The carousel below contains examples of Iranian feasting vessels from as early as 3,200 B.C. until the end of the pre-Islamic period.

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  Silver bowl with stags, ca. 3rd century CE, Tehran National Museum
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  Tribute-bearers bringing pitchers and bowls, Persepolis
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  Ceramic rhyton with decorative bull, from Gilan, ca. 1st millennium BC, Tehran National Museum
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  Bronze cup with griffins and fortifications, from Lorestan, ca. 1st millennium BC, Tehran National Museum
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  Silver Plate with Tiger, Sasanian Period, 224-651 CE
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  Decorated clay vessel, Lorestan, ca. 900-800 BC, Tehran National Museum
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  Parthian glass vase, ca. 1st century BC
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  Clay rhyton, ca. 400 BC, Reza Abbasi Museum, Tehran
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  Glass stem goblet, 6th-7th century CE, British Museum
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  Silver rhyton with bull head, Achaemenid period, British museum
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  Stone Vessel, Kerman, mid-3rd millennium BC
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  Stone jar, ca. 1000 BC
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  Stone for baking bread, ca. 3rd millennium BC, Susa Museum
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  Rimmed bowls, Susa, ca. 3200 BC
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  Bronze pot, Lorestan, 1st millennium BC, Khorrambad Museum
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  Silver vase with vineyards, ca. 5th-6th century CE, Reza Abbasi Museum, Tehran
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  Gold and silver plate showing King Peroz hunting wild rams, ca. 5th century CE