On the Sasanian horse-shaped rhyta. A type of Sasanian wine vessel in historical perspective

Abstract

Among the vessel types employed in Sasanian toreutics the horse-shaped rhyta attract attention. They combine the functionality with figural shape. The article aims in setting them within the development of the Iranian drinking vessels with figural elements, and placing them within art-historical sequences. This proves that they match Sasanian decorum and that the fashion continued after the fall of the dynasty.