Gilan civilisation, 1250 – 800 BCE
Brownish-red baked clay
31.2 x 9.0 x 22.0cm LWHH
Intact, calcium carbonate deposits on the surface

The representation of the body of this ram askos also differs from the usual vessels from Gilan depicting an entire animal. Generally, the animal’s body is less dynamically shaped than the previous example; the horizontal and vertical lines are again given greater emphasis here. The ram seems elongated instead, even though the four obligatory short, thickset legs carry it. The other parts of the body such as the neck are also only slightly bloated. A small bulge on the back probably indicates the fat hump. The head is shaped to form a beaked spout; the horns are turned backwards, but face outwards at the front. The chest and the back have a long, finely notched ridge that ends in a short, thickset tail. A three-fold dotted-line ornament zigzags around the ram’s body.

André Wiese

Catalogue _ Museum DKM: Iran _ Amlash

Literature
Kunstwerke der Antike. Cahn Auktionen AG, auction catalogue Basel 22nd September 2006, Calbe 2006, 34 no. 57. E.O. Negahban, Marlik. The Complete Excavation Report, The University Museum Monograph 87, 2 vols. Philadelphia PA 1996, 123f. no. 106f. plate 40. Kunstwerke der Antike. Cahn Auktionen AG, auction catalogue Basel 22nd September 2006, Calbe 2006, 34 no. 57. J. Gabus – R.-L. Junod, Amlash Art, Bern 1967, plate VII. M. Guggisberg, Frühgriechische Tierkeramik. Zur Entwicklung und Bedeutung der Tiergefäße und der hohlen Tierfiguren in der späten Bronze- und frühen Eisenzeit (ca. 1600–700 v.Chr.), Mainz 1996, 346f.