Rhyton-shaped cup, sancai (three-color) ware

This fascinating cup distantly echoes the rhyton, or drinking horn, that was widely used in Central Asia in ancient times and imported to China during the Tang dynasty. It imitates in ceramic a type of foreign luxury item originally made of silver. Both the rhyton depicted in Su Jiankuan’s painting and this one are in the form of an animal head, where one would hold the vessel to drink from it. Here, the tongue of the fanciful, bulging-eyed creature protrudes outward to form the handle of the vessel. The cup is covered with the amber, yellow, and green glazes typical of Tang dynasty sancai (three-color) ware.