Roman Transport Amphora w/ Old Repairs, ex-Bonhams

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Antiquities | Asian | Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Sep 27, 2018

Set Reminder 2018-09-27 10:00:00 2018-09-27 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Antiquities | Asian | Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/antiquities-asian-ethnographic-3469
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• Lot Description
  Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 2nd to 4th century CE. A fine pottery transport amphora with a pointed conical base, a smooth globular body, rounded shoulders with a slight corseted neck base, a thick neck, and a collared rim. This beige-slipped amphora used to have a pair of applied arching strap handles which joined the upper neck to the shoulder, however only fragments of the handle termini remain. The body and neck bear eighteen bent iron nails to hold the large fragments in place. The rotund body would have held gallons worth of precious oils used to sustain legions of Roman troops which traveled and settled in most of Western Europe and Britain. Utilitarian transport vessels like this example were typically left undecorated, though some display stamped markings denoting the materials contained within each vessel. Custom iron display stand included. Size: 11.6" W x 32.5" H (29.5 cm x 82.6 cm); 42.75" H (108.6 cm) on included custom stand.
  
  Lacking its cork and pitch stopper, the original contents of this amphora are unknown; based on the globular size and shape, it was most likely used to transport olive oil (smaller ones were for stewed fruit or salted fish, while larger ones were used for wine). Amphorae formed the basis of the Roman economy as storage vessels for transporting goods throughout the Empire, with examples found from North Africa to Britain. The pointed base on this one is standard and was intended for storage in Roman warehouses in soft ground and for transport on ships by placing it through a specially-designed rack and roping it through the handles to others. This vessel likely came from North Africa, a major site of olive oil production (alongside Spain and France) in the Roman economy. This oil was used for cooking, lighting, and, in some cases, bathing; one estimate suggests that each Roman legion consumed 1370 amphorae of olive oil per year!
  
  This amphora and one other amphora hammered for GBP 2,750 ($3,530) at Bonhams, London, Knightsbridge Antiquities Auction (May 8, 2013, lot 84): https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/20667/lot/84/?category=results&length=90&page=1
  
  Provenance: private Davis collection, Houston, Texas, USA; ex-Bonhams, London, Knightsbridge Antiquities Auction (May 8, 2013, part of lot 84); ex-collection of Sir Daniel Donohue, California, USA, formed before 1968. The collection was started by the oil and cement tycoon Daniel Murphy in the 19th century and inherited by his daughter and son-in-law, Sir Daniel Donohue and Countess Bernardine (d. 1968), who then added to the family collection.
  
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  #138843

  Condition

  Vessel repaired in ancient times with iron nails. Large areas of restoration and modern stabilization material along exposed break lines. Surface wear and abrasions commensurate with age and use, losses to handles and parts of body and neck, small chips to rim, body, and base, with fading to slip pigmentation, and light roughness across most surfaces. Nice earthen deposits throughout.
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