Spouted vessel with lynx protome, Parthian period, 1st century BCE-1st century CE, Iran. Silver and gilt, 23.5 x 12.4 x 30.4 cm. Gift of Arthur M. Sackler, S1987.131 © 2016 Smithsonian Institution

Drinking vessels with a tall horn joined to the protome (forepart) of a lynx, panther, or lion, are sometimes depicted in Hellenistic and Roman art. They are usually identified as objects used in celebrating the cult of Dionysos, the Greek god of wine and ecstatic experience, which spread over a wide area of the eastern Mediterranean and southwest Asia.