**First Time At Auction**
Central Asia, modern day Pakistan / Afghanistan, Bactrian, ca. 3000 to 2250 BCE. This is a beautiful and minimalistic stone bowl carved from a blue-gray chlorite schist. The bowl rests on a flat base, and the walls flare outward to a thick rim. The exterior is smooth and highly polished, and painstaking hours of drilling and pecking were required to shape this nearly perfect vessel. A bowl like this may have been used to hold salt or other condiments, or perhaps small quantities of offerings used in rituals. Size: 4.125" Diameter x 1.875" H (10.5 cm x 4.8 cm)
Bactrian vessels were often made from this chlorite schist, a type of stone widely available in Oman that was traded north through Arabia, the Gulf, Iran, Baluchistan, and Pakistan. Archaeologists believe that some pieces were traded not just as vessels, but also for what they held, which could include unguents, cosmetics, oils, and perfumes.
Provenance: East Coast collection, New York Gallery, New York City, New York, USA, acquired before 2010
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#141903
Condition
Intact and very good. Minor age and use expected surface abrasions. Old inventory label on base.