Elegant Bactrian Banded Alabaster Stemmed Chalice

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Exceptional Day 1: Antiquities & Asian Art

By Artemis Gallery

Sep 26, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-09-26 10:00:00 2019-09-26 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Day 1: Antiquities & Asian Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-day-1-antiquities-asian-art-4437
Day 1 of an important 2-day auction featuring exceptional, museum-worthy examples of Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Viking, Russian, Near Eastern, as well as Asian Art from China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma and India. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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• Lot Description
  Ancient Central Asia, Bactria, ca. late 3rd to early 2nd millennium BCE. A stunning ritual chalice of a tall, elegant form, hand-carved from soft honey-yellow alabaster with natural veining in darker hues that illuminates when held to a bright light. The vessel presents with a wide conical foot beneath a slender stem, a broad cylindrical body with a carinated lower edge and tapered walls, and a discoid rim surrounding the deep basin. The entire chalice retains a meticulously-polished smoothness to its surfaces, and faint traces of the original chisel/drill marks are visible within the basin. A substantial and finely preserved example of elaborate Bactrian ritual artistry! Size: 5.875" W x 10.8" H (14.9 cm x 27.4 cm).
  
  Alabaster, a light-colored, calcareous stone from the Iranian Plateau, has strong connections in ancient western and central Asia to religion and specifically the gods. For example, in the site of Kultepe-Kanes, a huge burial mound, there were many disc-shaped alabaster idols, naked alabaster goddesses, and lion figures. We also know that alabaster was a precious material, widely traded in the region from the 4th millennium BCE onward. A chalice like this one was made to be placed into a tomb to hold offerings or for ritual proceedings that pertained to the religious practices of the ancient Bactrian peoples.
  
  A strikingly similar example, of a slightly larger size, hammered for $16,250 at Christie's, New York "Antiquities" auction (sale 1915, December 6, 2007, lot 61): https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/ancient-art-antiquities/a-bactrian-alabaster-chalice-circa-late-3rd-early-5004838-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=5004838&sid=39b60e30-eb56-4c10-a983-97b29d9079d7
  
  Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-private California, USA collection, acquired in the 1980s
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
  We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
  
  #148399

  Condition

  Repair to areas of rim and carination on lower body, with small chips, light restoration, and minor adhesive residue along break lines. Minor abrasions and nicks to foot and cylindrical body, with light encrustations. Light earthen deposits throughout.
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