A wide bowl with carinated lip and lateral lug handle on a flat base; decorated on both sides with umber pigment on a white slip; to the outer face, a snake and band motif; to the inner face, multiple bands of crescentic, triangular net and zig-zag motifs; to the underside, low-relief inscription (partly legible). [No Reserve]

PROVENANCE:
Tackey Crist, Cyprus Museum collection, NC, USA.
Ex Leland Little auctions.
with Cyprus Museum of Jacksonville, North Carolina, USA.

PUBLISHED:
Exhibited: The Cyprus Museum, Jacksonville, North Carolina, 1988-2018.

LITERATURE:
Cf. Ancient Art from Cyprus, the Cesnola collection, p. 33.

FOOTNOTES:
The piece is reminiscent of earlier white-painted wares of the middle-late Cypriot period. Although wheel-made white-painted ware is known from as far back as the Late Cypriot period (1300-1200 B.C.), the present piece must date to the Roman occupation of the island (from approximately the 2nd century B.C. onwards) because of the reserved (not impressed) Latin characters extant on the underside. The characters appear to have been applied to the clay whilst the vessel was wet. The inscription is impossible to decipher fully but contains the characters ... IN... ..AN.... ...DE M..... The use of 'D rather than Greek delta 'Δ' implies a Latin text.