Ancient art refers to art produced by advanced cultures of ancient societies with some form of writing, such as China, India, the Mediterranean, the Levant, Egypt, Greece, the Roman Empire, Roman North Africa, and Mesoamerican cultures before the arrival of Europeans. Ancient is defined in the VA Collection as items made before1200 CE and includes Chinese Han (206 BCE-220 CE) ceramics and metalwork; Mediterranean terracotta from the Holy Land Biblical Period (934-586 BCE), Magna Graecia (8-5th Century BCE) pottery, Roman Empire North Africa (27 BCE-476 CE) pottery, and a Texas Clovis Culture Paleolithic Spear (15,000-10,000 BCE.).
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Oenochoe, the Greek word for wine vessel or jug, is a category of ancient Greek pottery with different variants. Copied and modified by ancient cultures, this earthenware pouring vessel was made in a pottery center in the Roman North Africa territory called Africa Proconsulares and exported throughout the empire. Made using a potter’s wheel and…
Daunian style earthenware pottery was produced in the ancient northern Italian region Apulia, in what was then known as Magna Graecia. This cup from the 6th or 5th centuries B.C.E. was covered with beige slip and then painted with red, brown and black earth colors in a variety of patterns including diamonds, triangles, crosses, rectangles,…
This is an excellent example of an ancient earthenware carinated pottery flagon made in production centers in throughout the Roman Empire. This was made in, the Roman-North-Africa territory called Africa-Proconsularis. These pouring vessels locally made by provincial artisans were used specifically to hold and pour water, wine and other liquids and placed in kitchens, on…
This small earthenware jarlet was made using a potter’s wheel, fired in a kiln and is one of many pouring vessels used throughout the Roman Empire. It was made in a ceramics center in Africa-Proconsularis, the name for Roman North Africa territories. Made from clay, it is covered with a beige or white slip. These…
Earthenware bowls and other pottery items were produced locally in Roman North Africa after the Roman Empire expanded there and established ceramic production centers in the province called Africa-Proconsularis. Ceramics were shipped throughout the Empire on the same routes of their other exports from North Africa. Made using a wheel, this bowl is covered with…
Wing or ear cups (yushang), a term that describes its side flange-like additions to its ovoid body, appeared as early as the Zhou dynasty (1046-256 BCE) made in lacquer and later from a variety of materials. Lacquerware cups were used as dining vessels used for rituals and ceremonies contain fragrances, food or wine; and the…
Mingqi are ancient earthenware pottery items usually made using a bivalve mould and covered with a lead glaze that fired to a dark green. The lead in the glaze often combined with tomb dampness for centuries creating a chemical reaction changing its coloring into a lustrous and iridescent green seen here. Han mingqi were ancestral…
Artisans in the Roman Empire created varying local styles of terracotta figurines of gods and goddesses for placement on home shrines. This figure holding a jar represents Haroprates the ancient Greek god of silence and secrets. He may be an image of a royal and temple cult since he wears a double crown that symbolized…
This Biblical Period ancient earthenware wine jug was made in the late Iron Age in the Holy Land of Judea (the Levant) about the time of the first Jewish Temple. A very high carinated piece, it was built using the coil construction method and the paddle and anvil technique. Like most pouring vessels, it was…
This large terracotta kiln made piece is a Roman Empire serving platter in a technique called ARS (African Red Slip). Created in the Roman North Africa territory named Africa Proconsularis, it is a remarkable piece decorated with circular rings with perfect ridges as it was made using a pottery wheel. Its rim is articulated, a…
This ancient pottery lekanis is from Apulia in Magna Graecia, the Roman name for the South Italy coastal area colonized by the Greeks in the 6th century B.C.E. Greek settlers arrived with their Hellenic culture intact and had much influence on Italian civilization. A lekanis was a highly decorated low shallow bowl with close-fitting top…
This terracotta figurine from Alexandria in the Roman Egypt depicting a female holding a young child was probably placed in a home shrine to provide favors and protection. Although it is difficult to identify specific deities, this figure is probably a kourotrophos (meaning woman nurturing a child) –a female mortal or deity figurine with an…
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