Painted jar

Bronze Age, around 2000 BC
Acquired in Nahavand, said to be from Tepe Giyan, western Iran

During the third - early second millennium BC, as in other periods, different regional styles characterized pottery made in south-west, western, northern and south-east Iran. These seem to reflect flourishing regional areas. This is an example of a vessel which belongs to a long sequence of monochrome pottery found at sites such as Tepe Giyan and Godin Tepe.

Such vessels, like this one, are mainly wheel-thrown jars and smaller vessels, generally painted with iron oxide fired to a dark brown colour. They bear an interesting range of intricate geometric designs. Other motifs include spread eagles: the use of motifs drawn from nature is a recurrent theme in ancient Iranian art. 

J. Curtis, Ancient Persia-1 (London, The British Museum Press, 2000)