drinking horn

The first painters of glass in the Islamic world applied a brownish or yellowish metallic pigment on bowls, dishes, and other objects. The decoration usually consists of animal or vegetal motifs, sometimes accompanied by inscriptions. By applying pigments to both sides of these objects, glassmakers could highlight details or exploit the transparency of the glass to produce subtle shading effects. This object is a drinking horn with a large applied handle. Its shape is obviously derived from the use of animals’ horns for drinking. Glass horns were made by the Romans in the first century A.D., and horns of silver and ivory had been created by Achaemenian and Parthian artists in Iran before that time. However, in the Islamic world, such vessels never became popular in any medium. Only three Islamic glass horns are known, and this is the earliest example.