This is made in two pieces: the actual vessel to hold the liquid, and an elaborated extension of highly decorated form. The “cup” has a rounded bottom, sides that flare out slightly until the neck is reached, where the sides flare out much to a plain, outcurving lip. A ridge near the base was meant to ensure that the two parts were held together and would not come apart.
The “cup” measures 15 cm. high, 9.5 cm. diameter at the lip. The decorated extension is also hollow and has a plain neck which ends as a carefully modelled lion’s head with jaws wide open, big eyes, long ears and a snarl. This is 9.2 cm. long, and 8.5 cm. in diameter. Inside the lip of the “cup” is an inscription in Neo-Elamite cuneiform script, giving the name of a man and his father:

Adda-sapir, son of Sapparrak.

This rhyton comes from north-west Iran and dates to c. 600-550 B.C. The man is known from other silver inscriptions, but his status is never given. Obviously he was an important figure to own such luxury items, but he is so far never given a title such as “king”. The kingdom under which he lived is little known, but arose in north-west Iran after the fall of the Assyrian empire and before the Medes firmly took over the area.
This is thus an important example of pre-Achaemenid Persian art. The two parts are made from slightly different alloy, more suited for the precise shaping of the lion’s head. Both parts were of course made by hammering from sheet metal.