Ancient Greece, Mycenaean Period, Late Helladic III, ca. 13th century BCE. A hand-built pottery jar of a sizable form with a protruding circular foot, a wide apple-shaped body presenting a rounded shoulder, a pair of arching handles that join at the top of a false central spout, and a functional spout set off-center along the shoulder. Elegant black-slip motifs (though red due to misfiring) are presented atop a cream-slipped ground with concentric bands of varying widths around the body, parabolic arches on the shoulder, a 'bullseye' motif atop the false spout, and additional bands adorning the true spout and handles. A fabulous example from a time when Mycenae was at the peak of its influence in the Mediterranean! Size: 4.9" W x 5.375" H (12.4 cm x 13.7 cm)
This period is so named for the palace at Mycenae, famed in Homeric legend as the opulent seat of King Agamemnon. Excavations at the palace at Mycenae revealed an elite and long-lasting society with a great deal of wealth. This extended to the workshops of artisans who produced pottery like this vessel both for use in Greece and throughout the Mediterranean world; shiploads of similar jars went out as far as the Levant and Spain, carrying oil, wine, and other commodities.
For a stylistically-similar example, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 74.51.1393.
Another stylistically-similar example, of a slightly smaller size, hammered for $9,375 at Christie's, New York "Antiquities" auction (sale 2565, June 8, 2012, lot 55).
Provenance: ex Estate of Eldert Bontekoe, Pegasi Numismatics, Ann Arbor, Michigan USA acquired before 2000
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#157890
Condition
A few petite excisions on exterior surfaces and light fading to dark pigment, otherwise intact and choice. Excellent remains of pigment with craquelure in some areas.