The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 23, 2024

Horse-Shaped Drinking Vessel

Horse-Shaped Drinking Vessel

200–325 CE
Overall: 12 x 10.8 x 32.7 cm (4 3/4 x 4 1/4 x 12 7/8 in.)

Description

The horse was a favorite artistic subject in ancient Iran, where horsebreeding flourished. This muscular Sasanian stallion was descended from the royal and sacred Nisean breed of the Achaemenian Persians. Although Sasanian horse-trappings were elaborate, they did not include stirrups for mounting. In this rendition, the steed lies still, as camels in the Near East do today, waiting for its rider to mount. The medallions on each shoulder contain busts, perhaps of rulers of different parts of the Sasanian Empire, holding their rings of authority.
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    Musée du Petit Palais (Paris, France), and Roman Ghirshman. Sept Mille Ans D'art En Iran: [Exposition] Petit Palais, Octobre 1961 - Janvier 1962. [Paris]: Petit Palais, 1961. no. 859, Pl. LXXXVI
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    Ghirshman, Roman. “Notes Iraniennes XI. Le Rhyton En Iran.” Artibus Asiae, vol. 25, no. 1, 1962, pp. 57–80. Figs. 29-30. doi.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. “Year in Review for 1964.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 51, no. 10, 1964, pp. 236–66. Listed and reproduced no. 152. www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 14 archive.org
    Shepherd, Dorothy G., and Joseph Ternbach. “Two Silver Rhyta.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 53, no. 8, 1966, pp. 289–317. Reproduced fig. 6, 8 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 14 archive.org
    Ghirshman, Roman. “La selle en Iran,” Iranica Antiqua IX, Leiden: E.J. Brill. 1972, pp. 94-107. Discussed p. 106. Pl. LI
    Gibbons, D.F., K.C. Ruhl and L.S. Staikoff, "Analysis of Sasanian Silver Objects: A Comparison of Techniques" Archaeological Chemistry. June 1, 1974 , 11-21. pubs.acs.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 7 archive.org
    Harper, Prudence Oliver. The Royal Hunter: Art of the Sasanian Empire. New York: Asia Society, 1978. Reproduced: p. 28; mentioned: pl.1, pp. 29,30
    Merhav, Rivka. A Glimpse into the Past: The Joseph Ternbach Collection. Jerusalem: Israel Museum, 1981. p. 12-13, illust.
    Herrmann, Georgina, et al. "Parthian and Sasanian Saddlery: New Light from the Roman West." Archaeologia Iranica et Orientalis: Miscellanea in Honorem Louis Vanden Berghe. Belgium, Macmillan, 1989. p 757-809. Discussed p. 767 Pl. VI, VII.
    Vanden Berghe, Louis. Hofkunst van de Sassanieden: het Perzische rijk tussen Rome en China (224-642) ; 12 februari tot 25 april 1993. Brussels: Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis, 1993. p. 107, Pl. 94
    Kosmin, Paul. "Banqueting on the Move." In Animal-Shaped Vessels from the Ancient World: Feasting with Gods, Heroes, and Kings.Susanne Ebbinghaus,ed., 310-341. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Art Museums, 2018. Reproduced: p. 324, fig. 7.18
  • All That Glitters: Great Silver Vessels in Cleveland's Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 23, 1994-January 8, 1995).
    The Royal Hunter: Art of the Sasanian Empire. Asia House Galleries (organizer) (January 12-March 11, 1978); The Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX (April 10-May 21, 1978); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 7-August 13, 1978).
    Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).
    The Exhibition of Persian Art: 7000 Years of Art in Iran. Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France (organizer) (October 19, 1961-January 31, 1962); Villa Hügel, Essen, Germany (February 16-April 24, 1962); Kunsthaus Zürich, CH-8024 Zürich, Switzerland (May 17-July 22, 1962); Gemeentemuseum den Haag, The Hague, Netherlands (September 4-November 18, 1962); MAK, the Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst/Gegenwartskunst, Vienna, Austria (January 16-March 31, 1963).
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  • {{cite web|title=Horse-Shaped Drinking Vessel|url=false|author=|year=200–325 CE|access-date=23 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1964.41