Western Asian Long-Spouted Jug

Product Description

A large dark brown-black terracotta vessel, certainly fired in a reducing atmosphere (without oxygen in the furnace). It is equipped with a small handle in the posterior part and with a long gutter-shaped spout surmounted by the protome of a ram with coiled horns. The presence of grooves on the body recalls the work of bronze.

Jugs with a globular body and a long spout (sometimes improperly called “teapot” or “sauceboats” by archaeologists) are among the most popular shapes of the repertoire of Luristan: along with black ceramic vases, they also exist in clear ceramic adorned with figural scenes and/or linear patterns painted in red; but the most prized examples were those modeled in bronze by toreuts, the expert craftsmen in the manufacture of metal vessels, cold worked mainly by hammering.

The exact use of these jugs remains unknown, but one would reasonably imagine that they served during banquets and were used for beverage service, in primis wine and beer, which were most often found on the tables of the ancient Near East: metal tableware was certainly reserved for the high-ranking classes of society, while the vessels made of other materials were intended for the more humble classes. The many examples unearthed in the necropolises belonged to the funerary furniture of the deceased. The presence of an animal protome on the spout would have indicated a cult purpose.

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