Ancient Egyptian Stone Old Kingdom Gsneiss Plate. 21 cm L. Very rare and important material.

Plate Ancient Egypt, Old Kingdom, 2686 - 2160 BC Stone Gneiss Large 21 cm, Diameter 14 cm CONDITION: Good condition, rejoined from 2 big fragments, only cover the breakline professionally. PROVENANCE: Gabriëlese private collection, Middelburg - Monaco. Acquired from Jasper Antiquities in 2017 at C. M. Gallery, UK. Formerly a UK private collection prior to 1985. Old number collection in the base "1568". DESCRIPTION: Containers of this type, varying in height and concavity, were used as plates. They were deposited in the tombs, since they were storage elements for the food that the deceased would use to feed himself in the Hereafter. They could be placed on a cylindrical support to be used as an offering table, as shown in the funerary reliefs of this period. Chronologically, they appear at the beginning of the third millennium BC, and are more frequent at the end of Dynasty II. Stone vessels were considered first-rate luxury items. They have only been found in royal tombs and among those of the highest members of society. NOTES: - The piece includes authenticity certificate. - The piece includes Spanish Export License. - The seller guarantees that he acquired this piece according to all national and international laws related to the ownership of cultural property. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki.