Very Large Parthian Glass Rhyton

1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.

10 in. (718 grams, 25.5 cm).

With a trumpet-shaped broad end, tapering sidewalls and a thick pierced finial, accompanied by a custom-made wooden case.

Provenance

Japanese private collection, with a Japanese custom wooden box, prior to 1979.
Aaron Gallery, Iran prior to 1970.
Aaron Gallery, 19 September 1980.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12798-241349.

Literature

Cf. a similar Sassanian rhyton, but in embossed silver, in Carter, Martha L., ‘Three Silver Vessels from Tibet's Earliest Historical Era: A Preliminary Study’ in Cleveland Studies in the History of Art, 3 (1998) 22-47, figs.1, 5a-9c.

Footnotes

Rhyta, typically terminating in a zoomorphic or divine protome, were used as ceremonial drinking vessels, reflecting a close association with libation and purification rites.

CONDITION

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Ex Aaron Gallery, 1980

LOT 0102