Three-Part Pitcher (c. 800–700 BCE): Art, History and Details

Three-Part Pitcher (c. 800–700 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This unusual tripartite pitcher is made of three jugs joined together, a twisted handle, and a ram’s head atop a spout. Four feet connect to the pitchers, adding stability and an animal-like form. Ibexes, diamonds, and crosses, all painted in red slip, decorate the clay surface. This work is likely Baba Jan III ware from the Iron Age site Baba Jan in northwestern Iran. The pitcher is functional but may have served a ritual purpose.

Object facts

• Title: Three-Part Pitcher
• Date: c. 800–700 BCE
• Culture: Iran, Luristan
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: earthenware, unglazed slip
• Dimensions: Overall: 18.1 x 17 x 21.5 cm (7 1/8 x 6 11/16 x 8 7/16 in.)
• Collection: Near Eastern Art
• Department: Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
• Accession number: 1942.1081

A detail from the museum

The ram’s head was created separately before being attached to the spout.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, and Jenifer Neils. The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Museum in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1982.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.