Description:

Central Asia or Asia Minor, possibly Bactrian, ca. 1st millennium BCE. A fine stone bowl, made from diorite. The bowl is very shallow, with a pronounced, wide rim, and stands on a small, round foot. Diorite is a hard, difficult-to-carve rock that can be polished to a fine sheen, as the interior of this bowl has been. Diorite was a valuable material in ancient central Asia and the Near East - so valuable, in fact, that the Empire of Sargon of Akkad included it in a list of resources worthy of mounting military expeditions to acquire. A Size: 7" W x 1.25" H (17.8 cm x 3.2 cm)

Polished stone bowls are common grave goods from this time period, often left in tombs with a food offering. For example, an elite tomb excavated from the ancient city of Sam'al in southeastern Turkey contained a stele depicting the tomb's inhabitant seated at a table laden with food, symbolizing the riches he would have in the afterlife. In front of the stele, archaeologists found several polished stone bowls and the remains of food.

Provenance: private New Jersey, USA collection, acquired over twenty years ago

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#121582

  • Condition: Two chips from rim, with very small chips from foot. Light encrustation on surface, almost entirely on underside.

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November 21, 2017 7:00 AM MST
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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