Etruscan Lidded Funerary Urn

Villanova Culture, 7th century BC. A biconvex ceramic funerary urn with flared everted rim, carination to the waist and single loop handle, band of incised multilinear square cells (some with motifs); the lid an inverted footed bowl with thick loop handle and two lateral lugs to the rim, incised ropework meander pattern below the rim. See Hayes, J.W. Etruscan and Italic Pottery in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 1985, item A1 for type. 4.5 kg total, 42cm (16 1/2"). From an old Tokyo collection; previously the property of a Japanese gentleman since the early 1970s. This type of biconical urn is typical of the Villanovan culture of the 9th–8th centuries BC. It was used to hold the ashes of human bodies after cremation. It was hand-modelled in clay by the impasto technique and decorated with incised designs, usually geometric motifs. When interred, these urns were covered by an inverted bowl or with a bronze helmet, making a statement about the status of the deceased. [No Reserve]
Condition Report: Fine condition.