South Italian, Apulian
Sheep’s head rhyton
mid-4th century B.C.
Terracotta
21 x 9 cm
Bequest of Chester D. Tripp, 1986.883

A rhyton is a horn-shaped drinking vessel. This rhyton was made of fired clay, but its shape comes from an earlier time—the Bronze Age—when actual horns from sheep or bulls were used as drinking vessels. A rhyton was passed from person to person at a feast or drinking party. This rhyton may have been used in ceremonies honoring Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and revelry.

Once this rhyton was filled, it could not be put down until all the liquid in it had been drunk. Do you see why?