Egyptian Middle Kingdom Travertine Ovoid Jar with Everted RimEgypt, Middle...
Egyptian Middle Kingdom Travertine Ovoid Jar with Everted RimEgypt, Middle Kingdom, ca. 2130–1650 BCE. A compact ovoid jar hollowed from a single block of banded travertine, the stone shading from cream to warm honey-buff with mineral inclusions and encrusted burial deposits. The rounded shoulder tapers to a flat base, and a short neck rises to a thick everted rim. The exterior is smoothed rather than highly polished, while the deeply hollowed interior retains clear rotary-tool striations consistent with ancient drilling practice. Vessels of this shape held unguents, scented oils, and cosmetics, prized commodities placed among grave goods so the dead could continue their toilette in the afterlife. Size: 4.875" Diam x 3.5" H (12.4 cm Diam x 8.9 cm H).
Egyptian craftsmen worked calcite-alabaster (geologically travertine) from quarries at Hatnub and Wadi Gerrawi, valuing its translucence and the way lamplight moved through its banding. Hollowing a vessel of this thickness was the slow part of the process: a weighted, crank-driven borer charged with abrasive sand was rotated inside the blank, and the concentric striations left on the interior wall remain the surest technical signature of ancient, rather than modern, manufacture.
By the Middle Kingdom, stone unguent jars had become standard equipment in provincial burials as well as elite ones, often deposited alongside cosmetic spoons, kohl tubes, and mirrors. Their contents, perfumed fats and resinous oils, were costly enough that the container long outlived the commodity it was made to protect.
Provenance: Ex. Collection Dr. Hans Halter, Switzerland, collected before 1966.
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #73339Rim partially restored and restored rim chips, otherwise intact.
Egyptian Middle Kingdom Travertine Ovoid Jar with Everted RimEgypt, Middle Kingdom, ca. 2130–1650 BCE. A compact ovoid jar hollowed from a single block of banded travertine, the stone shading from cream to warm honey-buff with mineral inclusions and encrusted burial deposits. The rounded shoulder tapers to a flat base, and a short neck rises to a thick everted rim. The exterior is smoothed rather than highly polished, while the deeply hollowed interior retains clear rotary-tool striations consistent with ancient drilling practice. Vessels of this shape held unguents, scented oils, and cosmetics, prized commodities placed among grave goods so the dead could continue their toilette in the afterlife. Size: 4.875" Diam x 3.5" H (12.4 cm Diam x 8.9 cm H).
Egyptian craftsmen worked calcite-alabaster (geologically travertine) from quarries at Hatnub and Wadi Gerrawi, valuing its translucence and the way lamplight moved through its banding. Hollowing a vessel of this thickness was the slow part of the process: a weighted, crank-driven borer charged with abrasive sand was rotated inside the blank, and the concentric striations left on the interior wall remain the surest technical signature of ancient, rather than modern, manufacture.
By the Middle Kingdom, stone unguent jars had become standard equipment in provincial burials as well as elite ones, often deposited alongside cosmetic spoons, kohl tubes, and mirrors. Their contents, perfumed fats and resinous oils, were costly enough that the container long outlived the commodity it was made to protect.
Provenance: Ex. Collection Dr. Hans Halter, Switzerland, collected before 1966.
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #73339Rim partially restored and restored rim chips, otherwise intact.
