Catalog (303)

Terracotta grotesque head with typical pejorative traits of a slave.. The bearded man shows a high, furrowed brow, bulged eyebrows, and a thick, hooked nose. The thick lower lip is contoured by a moustache.
For a comparable example, cf. item no. 489 in: Eva Bayer-Niemeier. Bildwerke der Sammlung Kaufmann. Band I. Griechisch-römische Terrakotten. Melsungen 1988.
Much use of the modelling stick. Moldmade of two halves, only the front surviving. Traces of a very thin white coating or...

Handmade White Slip II ware bowl of deep, hemispherical body. With round base and wish-bone handle.
Made of red-brown clay covered with white slip (bluish tint) and decorated with brown ladder pattern. Hooked chain at the handle level, dot rows.
Old inventory number (161) written beneath the handle with ink. Museum card joined.
For an example from the same workshop, cf. reg. no. 1982,0726.1 in the British Museum database.
Ceramic
Cypriot, Late Bronze Age, 1375-...

Beautifully shaped oinochoe covered with a black metallic glossy varnish of excellent quality.
The flat shoulder decorated with radiating strokes in applied red. The body with a meander and a wavy line with circles in the interstices. The handle area framed by vertical lines.
The high swung handle arching from the trefoil mouth to the shoulder.
The concise modeling orientates on jugs made in metal.
For a closely related vase, cf. acc. no. 1971.11.14 in the Metropolit...

Small stemmed bowl made in grey bucchero. Shallow bowl with incurving rim, set on a flaring foot.
Rasmussen’s vase no. 275. Close in shape and size to Beazley Archive vase no. 9035479.
Ceramic, grey bucchero ware
Etruscan, 600-550 BC
D. 10.3 cm (4.1 in)
H. 5.6 cm (2.2 in)
Excellent quality and condition, with finely smoothed and shiny surface. Reconstituted from two fragments. Tiny rim chip mended, small shard out of the foot restored.
Ex German...

Terracotta head of a slave or peasant with coarse and asymmetrical features.
The man shows a wide face, short chin, and small ears set at the level of the temples. The almond-shaped eyes are raised, one of them with slight outline of the eyelids. The knobby nose is very close to the full lips underneath.
The bald head is covered by a cloth cap.
The head belongs to a figure that is clad in a cape and holds a fluted staff decorated with a rosette.
For a figure from th...

Terracotta female head of an Orans or Baubo figure. The broad nose is abraded and flat. The swung lips contrast with the white coat that used to be overpainted. The eyes are almost completely covered by the white pigment. The woman shows a broad forehead, curly hairdo and a stippled wreath over her head. The earlobes pierced to wear earrings.
Moldmade of two halves. Abrasion to the high points, and remains of the white coat in the cavities. Terracotta
Egyptian, Roman Period, 250-3...

Anatomical votive offering in the form of an ear. Frontally molded and reworked with the modeling tool.
The Etruscans knew a great variety of votive terracottas, which they placed in their temples as thanksgiving offerings or wishes for healing.
Votive ears referred to diseases of the ear, but may have also been a request to the god to hear the prayers of the supplicant.
Terracotta
Etruscan, 4th-2nd century BC
H. 5.2 cm (2 in)
Intact and fine. Coarse te...

Anatomical votive offering in form of an eye. Frontally molded and reworked with the modeling tool.
The Etruscans knew a great variety of votive terracottas, which they placed in their temples as thanksgiving offerings or wishes for healing.
Some of the votive eyes found appeared with eyelids and the periocular tissue, while others just showed the eyeball. The first may have referred to disorders like conjunctivitis, the other to myopia and cataracts.
One-eyed owner Moshe D...

Highly stylized female figure carved from a piece of bone. The prominent head with nose and pursed lips in slight relief. The eyes and eyebrows drawn with faint traces of the applied ink. Pierced ears to bear small earrings.
Drilled holes at the shoulder level to thread through a piece of string to attach separate arms. The preserved arm with notched arm bend and detailed hand.
Commonly referred as ‘Coptic dolls’, these figurines seem to appear suddenly in Egypt and Palestine, ...

Large bone doll with prominent head and segmented body. The round face with wide nose and slit mouth. The eyes drawn in ink and still faintly visible. The hair of the figure is piled up high and combed sideward.
Pierced at the chest level for fixation of separate arms which were bent forward at the elbow.
In the cavities remains of a light brown pigment that covered the piece.
These figures are often classified as dolls and may have served as inexpensive toys. They were plac...

Highly stylized female figure carved from a long bone. Details of the head, the anatomy and tattoos carefully drawn in ink and faintly visible.
Deep incisions to delimit the different parts of the body. The incised X on the chest may indicate the cross bands of a garment.
Drilled holes at the shoulder level to attach separate arms.
For a closely related example, cf. item 157a, pp. 126-127 in: André Wiese. Antikensammlung Basel und Sammlung Ludwig. Die ägyptische Abteilun...

Baluster-shaped fitting with horizontal grooves cut into the outside surface. Pair of drilled holes to dowel the piece.
For a comparable example, cf. acc. no. LDUCE-UC56882 in the Petrie Museum database.
Bone
Coptic Egypt, Roman to Byzantine Period, 4th-6th century BC
H. 6.6 cm (2.6 in)
Minor chipping, otherwise intact and fine.
Ex Royal Athena Galleries, New York, sold as part of a group of Egyptian bone objects in 2014. (page relating to the group join...

Thin walled terracotta plaquette with the head of the scary Medusa in relief. Appealing style, with round face and wavy locks of thick hair.
Medusa is depicted as a beautiful woman, in a sharp change from her monstrous appearance in earlier periods.
Pierced on top for suspension. The thin make points to an amulet rather than a loom weight.
Auction house tag (85) behind.
Terracotta
Greek, 4th century BC
D. 5.5 cm (2.2 in)
Intact, fine condition. Si...

Large North African red-ware fragment depicting a leaping panther with detailed head and fearsome paws.
Excellent modeling of the musculature and great coat pattern rendered with small circles. On the other end a hound chasing a sheep or goat.
The fragment belongs to the rim of a lanx, a larger and rather rare rectangular platter. The outer edge is decorated with a beaded pattern.
For a panther from a matching mould, cf. fig. 12, p. 418 in: Annewies van den Hoek. “Executi...

Mesopotamian incantation bowl with a nonsensical text consisting of repetitive scribbles.
Bowls with nonsensical non-writing or pseudo-script were not uncommon. The four lines of writing enclose two demonic figures. Possibly male and female.
The heads are rendered in profile with large eyes, the line applied between nose and chin may be a tongue sticking out.
Both demons appear with crossed arms and legs, suggesting that they are bound. The feet with indicated toes.
S...

Mesopotamian incantation bowl with the meaningless repetition of the same letter. The text is grouped in adjacent areas and surrounds two demonic figures with differentiated sexual attributes.
The woman appears with long hair or a veil, the man is depicted with a short brush cut.
Arms and legs are hatched, the fingers indicated. The arms are bound together.
Between the figures a scorpion with segmented body and multiple legs. The grasping pincers are rendered as simple lines...

Amphora handle with the name of the annual official Pausanias written around the Rhodian rose emblem.
The stamped text reads: ΕΠΙ ΠΑΥΣΑΑΝΙΑ ΣΜΙΝΘΙΟΥ – in the term of Pausanias, in the month Sminthios (March-April).
Three eponyms with the name Pausanias are known from Rhodian amphoras. Our example refers to Pausanias 3, who held office around 152 BC.
Pausanias 3 is associated with the Rhodian fabricant Timo 2, whose workshop was active from 175-150 BC. ...

Choice red-ware rim fragment featuring a beautifully detailed lion. The feline approaches with a forward-turned front body. The head with delicate detail and a shaggy mane. Shaggy strands on the elbow joint. Excellent modeling of the musculature and great rendering of the panther-like fur pattern depicted with tiny circles. For almost the same lion on an Orpheus bowl, cf. 1981.658 in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. For a discussion of the bowl, cf. pp. 230-231, pl. 32 in: Annewies van den ...