LOT 0018

Egyptian 'Becker' Serpentine Vessel

NEW KINGDOM, 18TH DYNASTY, CIRCA 1450 B.C.

6 1/8 in. (1.2 kg, 15.5 cm).

Piriform jar with wide, flat rim and short neck, narrow neck and flat base.

Ex Becker collection, 1920s.
Private collection, Los Angeles, USA, 1990s.
Private European collection.

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12576-232111.

See Aston, B.G., Ancient Egyptian Stone Vessels, materials and forms, Heidelberg, 1994, pl.12, for examples of serpentine vessels; for the shape of the vessel, idem, p.97, no.185, type a (p.154, New Kingdom); Lilyquist, C., Egyptian Stone Vessels, Khian through Tuthmosis IV, New York, 1995, figs.67, 68, 85, 87.

Three forms of serpentine were mainly used by the ancient Egyptians for stone vessels: a) green or grey serpentine with black veins; b) translucent green serpentine with black patches; c) granular black serpentine with intermixed grey or brown granules. Type a) serpentine, i.e. the green or grey one with black veins, has the longer time range, and was used for vessels from the Predynastic Period (Naqada II) through the New Kingdom. It was used for stone vessels, but also became common for statuettes and small toilet vessels. The class of green glazed kohl pots, many with carved or openwork decoration which are usually called ‘glazed steatite’ were more likely to be made of serpentine. The type here represented is a form known in the New Kingdom: a bag-shaped jar with neck, flat base, and wide thin rim. Similar vessels have been found in Thebes, Amarna, Kahun, among other localities.