Etruscan Oinochoe Handle

Late 5th century BC. A large bronze oinochoe handle with fluted body, long handle base with sharp-edged palmette pendant of thirteen points with out-turned scrolls resembling serpent heads to the sides, two rivets to the reverse; crescent-shaped rim attachment with facetted body. See almost complete example with some tang preserved in the British Museum acquired from Sir William Hamilton in 1772, museum number 1772,0303.91; Walters, Catalogue of the Bronzes in the British Museum. Greek, Roman & Etruscan, no. 690, p.114. 385 grams, 22cm wide (8 3/4"). Collection formed before 1960. With Forum Ancient Coins, North Carolina, USA, July 2013, item number AI36092. Private Australian collection. Accompanied by a signed certificate of authenticity from Joseph T. Sermarini of Forvm Ancient Coins. Accompanied by a copy of the previous collector's cataloguing document. This handle belongs to a type of spouted bronze pitchers, alternately referred in the literature as an oinochoe or Schnabelkanne - vessels used for mixing wine. Complete Etruscan bronze oinochoai are rare and are characterised by an ovoid body with a short cylindrical neck, the trefoil mouth angled upward with a long spout, the flat rim everted, with the vertical facetted handle cast separately. The handles were cast and rivetted to the oinochoai, the bodies of which were hammered out of thin sheet bronze and for this reason seldom survive. Many such handles come from Vulci, a production centre of high quality bronzes.For this specific lot, 5% import VAT is applicable on the hammer price
Condition Report: Fine condition.