Rare Greek Rhodian Glazed Faience Aryballos

Western Greece, Rhodes, Archaic Period, ca. first half of the 6th century BCE. A beautiful mold-formed faience aryballos of a petite scale with a rounded base bearing an impressed circular groove, a spherical body with dense lattice-pattern motifs in low relief, a smooth shoulder that tapers inward to a narrow neck, a broad rim with a flared lip, and a wide handle joining rim to shoulder. The vessel is enveloped in a layer of blue-green glaze, and a ring of black pigment courses around the lip. The rarity of this vessel stems from the use of faience - a distinctly Egyptian technique - in the Greek Isle of Rhodes during the height of the Greek Empire. Rhodian aryballoi would have contained oils or other uncommon liquids, and faience vessels like this example would have been owned by only the wealthiest Greek families, perhaps with close ties to Egypt through trade. Size: 2.1" W x 2.25" H (5.3 cm x 5.7 cm)

For a strikingly similar example with vertically striated body patterning, please see The British Museum, museum number 1861,0425.24.

A nearly identical example of a slightly taller form, along with two other items, hammered for $13,750 at Sotheby's, New York "Antiquities" auction (December 5, 2007, part of lot 135).

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-Artemis Gallery; ex-private New Jersey, USA collection; ex-William Froelich collection, New York, USA, acquired in the 1970s

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.

#152728 Dimensions: Condition Report: Repaired from a few large pieces, with light restoration to areas of body, shoulder, handle, and rim, with resurfacing and overpainting along new material and break lines. Minor nicks, abrasions, and pitting, with light fading to areas of original glaze pigmentation, and light encrustations. Light earthen deposits and nice traces of original glaze pigment throughout.