Roman Aubergine Glass Square Flask

Comprising irregular part of a polished porphyry block of rectangular shape, polished on three sides, with a black xenolith in the main face; probably from recarved material mined in ancient Roman times between the 1st and 5th century A.D. 1 kg, 27 cm



From the private collection of a UK gentleman since the early 1980s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Mons Porphyrites (today Jabal Abu Dukhkhan) is the mountainous site of a group of ancient quarries in the Red Sea Hills of the inhospitable eastern desert in Egypt, a five day trip from the Nile during Roman times. They were discovered by Caius Cominus Leugas in 18 A.D., and during the Roman Empire, the mines officially belonged to the emperor and were the only known source of the Imperial Porphyry, Mons Porphyrites. This dark purple stone was associated with royalty and used for prestigious sculpture and architecture. The location of the mines was lost some time in the 5th century, and rediscovered in the early 19th century. Excavations in the area have revealed the well-preserved quarries and the dwelling places of the quarrymen, and also thousands of ostraca have been discovered containing messages that provide details of how the quarrying took place, and of how the highly skilled quarrymen ordered their food.

Ellipsoid in plan with low basal ring and thick convex rim, carination to the forward end; hinges to each lateral rim, the knuckles formed as addorsed duck-heads each with scrolled panel to the rear retaining the pivot of the ribbed D-shaped handles. 1.68 kg, 28 cm



Acquired in Switzerland, 1996. Private collection, Europe. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato. Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate dated 30th April 2004. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12363-226688. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

This vessel (lanx) was part of Roman and provincial bronze instrumentum domesticum, i.e. culinary or domestic utility ware. The form of the bowl resembles a type of helmet with carination to the front, the handles placed as hinged cheek-protectors.

Comprising: a piriform lamp with birds and geometric motifs, low basal ring; a piriform lamp with raised pellets and other motifs; a rounded lamp with short nozzle, low-relief leaves and ring-and-dot motifs within geometric border, a hatched rectangle behind the nozzle, a palm branch underneath the nozzle flanked by crescentic lines and ring-and-dot motifs, raised nipple to base. 190 grams total, 78-90 mm



with Galerie Rhéa, Zurich, Switzerland. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.