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Horse-Shaped Drinking Vessel
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
The horse was a favorite artistic subject in ancient Iran, where horse breeding 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.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineHorse-Shaped Drinking Vessel, 200–325 CE. Iran, Sasanian Empire (224–651 CE). Silver, partially gilt; overall: 12 x 10.8 x 32.7 cm (4 3/4 x 4 1/4 x 12 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1964.41
