Sizable glass vessels from the era before the advent of glassblowing (the first century B.C.) rarely survive intact in the ancient Near Eastern world. Fragments of fluted glass beakers or, conceivably, horn-shaped cups similar to this example were found in the excavations at Persepolis in southwestern Iran and are datable to the Achaemenid period (558-331 B.C.). On one small fragment vertical fluted lines terminate in what appears to be an animal's head.1
This remarkable molded and carved lion-headed beaker is made from a transparent soda-lime glass that appears to be greenish in color (as a result of iron impurities) only in the thickest part around the lion's head. The delicate and precious cup imitates the form of vessels of pre-Achaemenid and Achaemenid date (eighth-fifth century B.C.) hammered from gold and silver. Details of the head, particularly the indications of wrinkles and folds in the skin, are comparable to lion heads of the Achaemenid period, although the style of this rendering, as is often the case with works made of glass, differs slightly from Achaemenid images in stone, ceramic, and metal.
The cup, which was cleaned in modern times and is without the weathered iridescent surface commonly seen on ancient glass, is in remarkable condition. Damage is restricted to a stress crack that extends obliquely from the head of the animal part way down the fluted body. As a type of ancient Near Eastern luxury vessel not often preserved, this rare work of art is an example of a court drinking or pouring vessel that is better known in ceramic and metal.
POH
1. See Schmidt 1957, pp. 91-92, nos. 9, 10, pl. 67.
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