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LOT 0036
Early Cypriot Red Burnished-Ware Vase
BRONZE AGE, CIRCA 2300-1650 B.C.
7 7/8 in. (375 grams, 20 cm high).
Bulbous bodied with a cylindrical neck and everted rim, decorated with incised geometric motifs: chequered squares, vertical chevrons, hatched and striped lozenges, combed circumferential bands; accompanied by an acrylic display base.
ProvenanceAcquired in the 1990s.
From the deceased estate of a North Yorkshire private collector, UK.
Ex Den of Antiquity, Cambridgeshire, UK.
Cf. The British Museum, museum numbers 1888,0927.29 and 2001,0423.4, for similar motifs.
FootnotesRed burnished-ware pottery became the dominant pottery ware lasting into the Middle Bronze Age on the island of Cyprus. Vessels were handmade and covered with a slip, which was burnished and often decorated with patterns incised with a sharp cutting edge before being fired. Potters were able to produce vessels that were either mottled or painted in two colours, often red outside and black inside and on the exterior of the rim.
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AUCTIONS:
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Parthian Green Glazed Dish
3rd-2nd century B.C.Estimate: £600 - 800 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £250
Of squat form with incised chevrons and dashes decorating the exterior; iridescent surfaces. 298 grams, 13.5 cm
with a London, UK gallery 1971-early 2000s. -
Hellenistic Gold Amphora-Shaped Pendant
2nd-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £390
Displaying decorative fluting; gusseted suspension loop and handles. 4.49 grams, 23 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Graeco-Roman Megarian Terracotta Cup with Nymphs
2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Hemispherical in form with decoration in relief featuring fluting alternating with nymphs and symbols beneath an architectural border, cracked and chipped. 257 grams, 11.9 cm wide
Private Dutch collection, 1970-2010. Ex private Dutch collection, 2010-2018.
The term ‘Megarian’ bowl applied to this type of pottery is a modern convention for academic purposes. The name ‘Megarian’ was first given to this type of mould-made relief bowl in the late 19th century, because some of the first known examples were said to have come from the city of Megara. In reality, such terracotta items originated in Athens in the 3rd quarter of the 3rd century BC, and from that point were made in all major Greek cities for the duration of the Hellenistic period and into the Roman, especially in Alexandria. This relief-decorated pottery became more popular than painted pottery during the Hellenistic period. This class of hemispherical bowl was made in moulds and was characterised by decoration imitating metallic beakers. When the finished bowl was taken from the mould, it was probably dipped in varnish or dull paint and fired. According to Prof. P.V.C. Baur, the stamps used for making moulds were not produced in every manufacturing centre of ‘Megarian’ bowls, but were made only in important centres such as Athens, Pergamon, Antioch and Alexandria, and sold to potters throughout the Hellenistic world. The fact that the edge of the bowl is turned outwards suggests Athenian production, and a comparison with the decorative petals on the Delian Cup (no.1913.199 of the Rebecca Darlington collection) is also plausible.
