The conservation of Nisa rhytons completed at the Pushkin State Museum

Rhytons are horn-shaped wine vessels with the richly decorated lower part. Made of ivory, Nisa rhytons are one of the most characteristic examples of Hellenistic art.

The rhytons from the Pushkin State Museum were found among others in the fall of 1948 in Old Nisa, a cult centre for Arsacids. Damaged in a notorious Ashkhabad earthquake of 1948, the rhytons were conserved in 1950 and divided between several museums. Out of 42 rhytons, 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.

In 2016, these unique objects were returned to the conservation workshops. The need for a new restoration was due to the fact that the old restoration materials were outdated and darkened, and the ivory from which the vessels were made was brittle and in need of consolidation. The treatments were carried out together with the specialists from the Grabar conservation centre. Now the rhytons are back to the permanent exhibition of the museum.