Flask

Description

A flask in the form of a cylinder with a convex front and a concave back. Wheel-thrown from light clay and covered with a burgundy slip. The tall neck with a rounded rim is set on top, leaning towards the back of the vessel, without a spout. From about the middle of the neck to the shoulders run two massive handles, oval in section; at the attachment of one of them is a finger impression. The convex surface of the flask is decorated with wide concentric lines forming a round medallion. No typology has been created for this kind of vessel because of their general uniformity despite minor variations. Made in a Crimean workshop specifically for the steppe population (possibly horsemen) of the Saltiv culture of the Khazar Khaganate. Dated to the second half of the 8th to first half of the 9th century. Scientific description by Yaroslav Chentsov.