Home
PROJECTS → Conservation of Nisa rhytons from The Pushkin State Museum of fine Arts
Conservation of Nisa rhytons from The Pushkin State Museum of fine Arts
Nisa Rhytons from The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. Photo before conservation
Nisa Rhytons from The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. Photo before conservation

The project started in October 2016.

Nisa rhytons are one of the most characteristic examples of Hellenistic art. They are mentioned in nearly every published study on both Parthian art and eastern Hellenism art. Made of ivory, these objects hadn't had any known analogies for a long time, and only recently two more ivory rhyton fragments have been found during excavations in Takhti-Sangin and Ai-Khanum.

Rhytons are horn-shaped wine vessels with richly decorated lower part. It is divided in zones: protoma (decorum of the lower part), neck, body, decorative friso (with one of the eight known themes depicted on it) and fascia. Having a noble monochrome look now, back in the days they were partially painted and decorated with glass and stones, and sometimes even gold plating.

Rhytons from The Pushkin State collection were found among others in the fall of 1948 in Old Nisa, a cult centre for Arsacids, made to promote the idea of divine ancestry of the ruling dynasty. Among all the rhytons found (approximately from forty to seventy objects) twelve are stored in Russia: four in each the State Hermitage, The Pushkin State Museum, and the State Museum of Oriental Art. Others are kept in Ashkhabad.

Damaged in a notorious Ashkhabad earthquake of 1948, the rhytons were conserved in 1950 and divided among the museums. Since then the Pushkin State rhytons have never been additionally treated. However, they are constantly subjected to a harmful physical impact due to the Moscow underground lines built too close to the surface in the area. Ivory is an extremely fragile material in need of consolidation. A timely conservation treatment will prevent the surface of the rhytons from further destruction.

Pieces conserved as a part of the project
Сайты Музея