Vessel terminating in the forepart of a stag

What you see

What you see

A silver drinking vessel with gold inlay, ending in the forepart of a stag; it measures 18 by 13.5 by 18 cm and weighs 0.3 kg. According to the record, it was hammered from one piece that was joined to the head by a checkerboard-patterned ring, and the horns and the handle were attached separately. A frieze of a religious ceremony decorates the rim: a prominent figure, "thought to be" a goddess, sits on a cross-legged stool holding a bird of prey and a small cup; her conical crown and large ears are, the record says, typical of Hittite art. A mushroom-shaped incense burner separates her from a male god who stands on the back of a stag, holding a falcon and a small curved staff. Three men in profile face the deities, each holding an offering; behind them is a tree or plant against which rests the collapsed figure of a stag, with a quiver of arrows and what appears to be a bag hanging from it, and two vertical spears complete the frieze. This page has no photograph: the museum has open images of the vessel, which are not included in this round. Source 1.

What the record says

The record dates the vessel "ca. 14th-13th century BCE", assigns it to the "Hittite Empire" period and to the Hittite culture, and gives its geography as "Central Anatolia". That is a catalogue attribution, not a findspot: the findspot is not stated. The provenance in the record begins with "Reportedly Faraj Ulemes, Istanbul", continues by 1965 with Egon Beckenbauer, Munich, and by 1966 in the collection of Norbert Schimmel, New York, and ends with the gift of the Norbert Schimmel Trust in 1989, after the vessel had been on loan periodically to the Museum from 1970 to 1989. Source 1.

Reading the frieze

The museum words its reading of the frieze carefully. According to the record, cult scenes and religious processions are commonly represented in the art of the Hittite Empire, and Hittite texts refer frequently to trees and plants associated with rituals or festivals, and to spears as venerated objects; so it is "possible" that the stag, killed in a hunt as the quiver and bag suggest, was being dedicated to the stag god. The record adds that the texts mention animal-shaped vessels of gold, silver, stone and wood given to the gods for their own use. The precise meaning of the frieze "remains a matter of conjecture", and it is "possible" that the vessel was intended to be the personal property of the stag god. The identification of the figures and the dedication of the stag are the museum's interpretation, not a finding. Source 1.

Placement on the timeline

The range in the record's date fields, 1400-1200 BCE, lies entirely within the Late Bronze Age of Anatolia, about 1600-1200 BCE on the Met's timeline, so the vessel is placed in that row. On the same timeline the "Hittite empire" is about 1380-1200 BCE, so the start of the record's range slightly precedes the empire as the timeline dates it; the record does not address the difference. Certainty of period is higher than certainty of place, which is unknown. Sources 1, 2.

Where it is now

The vessel is held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art as 1989.281.10, with the credit line "Gift of Norbert Schimmel Trust, 1989". On 24 October 2026 the record stated "Not on view". The article "Hattusa and Yazılıkaya: a Hittite capital and a rock sanctuary" presents the Hittite capital of the same period according to UNESCO and the Met. Source 1.