Rhyton (drinking vessel) in the shape of a deer’s head,

4th century BCE

Animal-shaped vessels and vessels with painted representations of animals were produced and used across the ancient Mediterranean. Their widespread creation attests to a shared impulse to incorporate animals and nature into the world of humans. These elaborate and intricate vessels were used for ceremonial banquets and religious rituals, or in funerary activities. At times, it was believed that the use of these vessels could almost animate the creatures represented, making them present and involved in the unfolding events. The incorporation of vessels rep- resenting animals at these moments both connected the human and animal worlds and asserted the differences between these disparate realms.