LOT 0017

Egyptian Glazed Faience New Year Flask with Baboons

LATE PERIOD, 664-332 B.C.

6 1/4 in. (263 grams, 16 cm).

Lentoid body with segmented collars and blue detailing around the shoulders, neck with papyrus stalk detailing and a domed rim; addorsed stylised baboons flanking the neck.

Acquired on the UK art market, 1990s.
Private collection, New York, USA.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13350-255452.

Cf. Wahby, A., et al, 'Eight New Year’s flasks from Tell Tebilla,' Prague Egyptological Studies XXX/2023, p. 32, no. 8, for a flask excavated near Mendes (in Lower Egypt) with similar neck and body decoration.

The concept of renewal is expressed through the form, decoration, and inscriptions of this type of flask. Their rounded bodies evoke the sun disc, symbolising daily rebirth, while the squatting baboons flanking the mouth allude to those that greeted the rising sun each morning. The blue collar decoration, including floral motifs, as seen here, symbolises the renewal of the agricultural cycle through the annual Nile inundation. The papyrus-capital spout reinforces this theme of regeneration. Although traditionally dated exclusively to the 26th Dynasty, examples recovered from Late Period and early Ptolemaic contexts indicate that their popularity actually endured for several centuries.