Ancient Pottery

Of all the material remains recovered by archaeologists, the most abundant is pottery – the first synthetic material created by humans. Pottery is a general term defined as objects made of clay fashioned into shapes, dried into a leather-hard state and then fired to permanently change the clay’s moleculat structure so that they hardened and survived over time. Early civilizations used clay earthenware and terracotta vessels to store, prepare and serve food; hold perfume and precious oils; ship commodities; burn oil for light; contain or function as votive offerings; and help settle and satisfy the dead in their comfortable afterlife.

Showing 1–12 of 19 results

  • Sale!

    Ancient Terracotta Oenochoe (Wine Jug), Roman North Africa #3197A

    Original price was: $275.00.Current price is: $225.00.
    H: 4.5”  W: 3”  D: 2.75” | FREE SHIPPING WITHIN CONTINENTAL U.S. !

    Small wine jugs were made in the Roman North Africa territory called Africa Proconsulares and exported throughout the empire. Made and decorated with ribbing and a single handle on a potters wheel it was fired in a kiln.  Simple and unadorned functional objects called coarse wears were made everyday use and to make offerings to deities using inexpensive long-lasting materials.  Very good example of pouring vessels from ancient history throughout the Roman Empire.

  • Ancient Daunian Earthenware Cup, Magna Graecia, Italy (1789LME) $595

    $595.00
    H: 3”  W: 4.75”  D: 4” | FREE SHIPPING IN CONTINENTAL U.S.!

    This Daunian style earthenware cup was produced in the ancient northern Italian region Apulia, then known as Magna Graecia, from the 6th or 5th centuries B.C.E.. It was covered with beige slip and painted with red, brown and black earth colors in a variety of geometric patterns. Its curved rim and high handle was ideal for pouring liquids like water and wine.  The handle may have been repaired as there is an uneven slip underneath it or may have been attached it was painted but it is otherwise in very good condition.

  • Sale!

    Ancient Earthenware Carinated Flagon, Roman North Africa #3191BLB

    Original price was: $775.00.Current price is: $495.00.
    H: 4.5”  W: 3”  D: 2.75” | FREE SHIPPING WITHIN CONTINENTAL U.S.!

    This Roman ceramic flagon is a uniquely shaped vessel used to store and pour potable liquids. A crème slip carinated jug with a high profile and a trefoil pouring spout, it has a strap handle attached from the carinated edge to just below the rim for easy handling. Roman coarse wars like this were use for liquids and to make offerings to household deities.

  • Sale!

    Ancient Earthenware Jarlet, Roman North Africa #3195A

    Original price was: $225.00.Current price is: $184.00.
    Ht: 4.625″  Dia: 3.625” |  FREE SHIPPING WITHIN CONTINENTAL U.S.!

    Most small utilitarian pottery jars like this one made in Roman North Africa were either a perfume, oil, ointment or cosmetic jars. This wheel made vessel has grooved furrows etched on the surface while the object turned on the wheel. Made without frills for durability, the slip made it less porous.

  • Ancient Glazed Ceramic Han Wing Cup, China (1009BOH) $450

    $450.00

    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…

  • Ancient Han Dynasty Glazed Hu Jar, China (1604AOK) $595

    $595.00

    Hu vessels, first made in the Shang Dynasty is an ancient-pottery wine vessel whose body swells in the middle, flares into a narrow neck and often has a raised circular foot. Very popular during the Han dynasty, it was used as an ancestral tomb burial object (mingqi) to hold liquids and elixirs for the deceased…

  • Ancient Han Dynasty Pottery Pig, China (2029BKE) $395

    $395.00

    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…

  • Sale!

    Ancient Holy Land Biblical Period Wine Jug, Judea #3241

    Original price was: $695.00.Current price is: $550.00.
    H: 8.5”  Dia: 5.5” | FREE SHIPPING within Continental U.S.!

    This Biblical Period earthenware wine jug is rare because of its difficult chances of survival over such a long time period. Made in the Judea Holy Land, it has a tall globular body and a downward sloped shoulder that join together in a distinctive carinated edge running around its top.

  • Ancient Lekanis Dish, Magna Graecia (3247BHK) $575

    $595.00

    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…

  • Ancient Ribbed Oinochoe Wine Jug, Roman North Africa (3197B-EKB) SPECIAL PRICE

    $295.00
    Ht: 6.25”  W: 3.25”  D: 2.75” | FREE SHIPPING WITHIN CONTINENTAL U.S. !

    Made in Africa Proconsularis in Roman North Africa and shipped throughout the Roman Empire, this small pouring vessel was made of inexpensive and long-lasting materials and was called coarse wear for everyday use.  This earthenware jug is elegant in its simplicity – tapered  and undecorated except for horizontal ridges, curved single handle, simple rim at the mouth and crème clay slip. It was made using a potters wheel, seen by the circle marks on the bottom and the uniform ribbing. A fine small piece of history.

  • Sale!

    Ancient Terracotta Beaker, Roman North Africa #3195B

    Original price was: $325.00.Current price is: $235.00.
    H: 2.675”  DIA: 3” | FREE SHIPPING WITHIN CONTINENTAL U.S.!

    This simple ancient small earthenware bowl was made in Africa Proconsularis, the Roman North Africa pottery center and distributed throughout the Roman Empire. With no handle, this beaker is beautiful in its simplicity resting on a short foot, a body that curves up and rises to meet a neck and is topped with an everted rim to lessen spillage  Made for daily use, this Roman coarse wear has a wide mouth for easy drinking and a rim with light terracotta red and its crème slip with an exquisite shape.

  • Sale!

    Ancient Terracotta Carinated Flagon with Handle, Roman North Africa #3190

    Original price was: $625.00.Current price is: $495.00.
    H: 8.5” Dia: 9.75” | FREE SHIPPING WITHIN CONTINENTAL U.S.!

    Made in the Roman North Africa, this ancient carinated ceramic flagon called coarse wear for daily use made of inexpensive durable clay was used to hydrate all kinds of people and on home altars for offerings to family deities. Carinated pottery, where the top and lower sections are angled in opposite directions forming a pointed edge, was common ancient pottery shape, this one with a handle.

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