A Roman Alabaster Cinerary Urn, probably Egypt, circa 1st Century A.D.

VAT reduced rate

Auction Closed

December 5, 03:41 PM GMT

Estimate

35,000 - 45,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

with stepped foot, deep rounded body, flat shoulders, flat contoured rim, twin handles, and convex lid with baluster-shaped finial.

Total height 37.5 cm.

Please note the Condition Report has been updated to read that the foot is probably modern.

Drouot-Richelieu, Paris, François de Ricqlès, September 30th-March 1st, 1996, no. 432, illus.

acquired by the present owner at the above sale

For a related example found inside a niche in a burial chamber in Rome see F. Taglietti, in Museo Nazionale Romano, vol. I/1, 1979, p. 235, no. 149 (https://arachne.dainst.org/entity/756756). Also see Sotheby's, New York, June 7th, 2012, no. 54. (https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2012/antiquities-n08871/lot.54.html).

On the production, typology, and dating of this type of urns see S. Perna, in Archaeology and Economy in the Ancient World. Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Classical Archaeology, vol. 20, Panel 3.18, 2021, pp. 5-17 (https://www.academia.edu/35131356/A_Case_of_Serial_Production_Julio_Claudian_tureen_funerary_urns_in_calcitic_alabaster_and_other_coloured_stone).