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Rhyton in the shape of a human head
3rd–5th century
Earthenware
L. 7 5/8 in. (19.5 cm)
Found at Yotkan, Hotan, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, 1976
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum
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A rhyton is a drinking vessel, and rhyta from the ancient Persian world are often decorated with human and animal heads. The main part of the body of this example takes the form of a man's head that is transformed at the terminal into a bull's head. While this combination is typical of Sasanian Persian rhyta, the rendering of the man's head characterizes works made in Yotkan in Central Asia, where this example was found, and related centers in the Khotan region along the southern branch of the Silk Road. Nevertheless, the physical type represents a foreign wine seller from Iran or elsewhere in the Near East.
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