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This small wine jug was created in a Roman North Africa production center for domestic use and exported elsewhere in the empire. As the poor could only afford practical objects, potters made many functional objects using inexpensive long-lasting materials.
This small juglet has a globular body, a round base, a very short neck, a wide mouth and short handles on each side. Like many other small Second Temple Period (circa 597-300BCE) pieces it is a functional item covered with a black slip and burnished. Small juglets like this “…were finished to a higher quality and were used for cosmetics and scented oils [and perfumes and ointments].” (Frank) This piece is intact, in good condition and a genuine piece from ancient history. There are two chips on the mouth rim, body dents, and burnish losses, all expected for its age and longer than two millennia old burial.
Source
Tom Frank, “Imagining the Past: Archeology and the Bible: a juglet to anoint,” September, 2014.
In early culture to cast objects in bronze, Luristan artists made sophisticated and imaginative bronzes prized in the ancient world for their inventive designs and fine craftsmanship. They depicted local animals wherever they were, as a long horned goat like this was hunted and a major source of food for survival. This finely made standing figurine has a surprisingly detailed shaped head with long antlers, tall thin legs, large eyes and a slightly curved body and is mounted on a Lucite base.
This Protoclassic (circa 200BCE – 200CE) ceramic painted figurine of an ovoid snail was fashioned as a vessel with a wide large spout on top. Many early Jalisco ceramics were utilitarian and used for cooking, carrying water or storing seeds. The size and shape of this piece suggest it was made to hold liquids. Pieces like this were often decorated with applied painted designs that faded because they were not fired after painting. In contrast to the rest of Mesoamerica which had complex urban centers, areas of habitation in West Mexico were small, especially in the Colima Jalisco-Nayarit area. Because these areas had been abandoned for centuries, utilitarian objects like this were rarely found whole and required their fragments to be assembled and restored. This piece is in very good condition with cracks and paint losses and may have expected repairs at its spout.
Earthenware pottery jarlets from Roman North Africa were used as oil, perfume, ointment or cosmetic containers and are a mini version of a Greek wine jug (oenochoe). Not used for wine, it has no handle, its shape fits well in the hand making it easy to grip and it is idecorated with ribbing and grooved furrows) around its body.
This glazed pig mingqi was one of many items made for a tomb to placate the spirit of the deceased and assure the soul’s access to the things enjoyed when alive. This animal mingqi confirms the importance of pigs as a food source and of raising livestock in Han China. An alert animal whose stocky body is typical, it’s dark lead green glaze and damp tomb created a chemical reaction over centuries making it a lustrous, iridescent green impossible to copy that is highly valued in China and by collectors. In very good condition, it has expected glaze losses, minor abrasions and cracks due to its age and long tomb burial.
This strong, thick, substantial yet relatively light T-shaped Inca copper alloy bronze ax has considerable wear on one side. Scholars describe these pieces as a classic weapon of the Inca Empire centered in Cuzco, Peru. Bronze ax heads were a very valuable and versatile tool. Their wide T-like top made them tight and durable when secured to a thick wooden handle and their strength and thickness also made them a very useful chopping and digging tool. This one has a fine patina and is very worn on one side attesting to its age and use. It has no restorations or repairs.
An uncomplicated ancient earthenware cup wih no handle, this rests on a short foot. Its body curves upand rises to meet a neck topped with an everted rim to lessen spillage It has a wide mouth for easy drinking, and the rim two-tones: a slight terracotta red and its crème slip. Its shape is exquisite. Although there are expected minor chips and scratches, earth adherents and minor losses of the slip, it is in excellent condition, beautiful in its simplicity and one of our favorite pieces in the VA collection.
This is unusual piece was likely on a scholar’s desk along with pots, brushes, water droppers, boxes, ink stones and other daily used objects used for a variety of tasks: a brush holder, a paper weight and more. A weighty high-fired object with a wide hole in the center, it has a raised top to hold paint dripping from a brush and is painted with cobalt blue petaled flowers under its clear glaze that covers all but the bottom. Its round body is a landscape of a Chinese village, mountains in the distance and seas or lakes with the calligraphic name of the scholar owner Shu Dai Ji (舒逮吉). The scene and calligraphy are well drawn pairs with thick cobalt blue decorative borders above and below. It is in very good condition with expected discolorations and stains consistent with its long use of paints and ink.
This finely cast antique figurine with finely articulated features portrays Nandi with jewels sitting recumbent on a high-tiered throne. Kneeling in reverence to serve Lord Shiva he is a symbol of purity and strength. Small figurines were placed on home shrines with other deities and significant family items. Made using lost wax it is a one-of-a-kind piece
This heavy antique brass oil lamp is devoted to Vishnu with symbols for him and his consort Lakshmi who together are the paradigm for rituals and ceremonies of a blessed Hindu marriage. Used on a home or temple altar for daily prayers (puja), it has with a yoni shaped cup to store oil, a lotus top and a mark of Vishnu that his devotees wear on their forehead to indicate their spiritual affiliation.
This 18th-century antique hand-made bronze 7-level stupa/pagoda was made in Nepal and was purchased in the 1970s in Kathmandu. This fine example has decorative details around the base and two of the round eaves have scalloped edges. It was used for personal devotion on a home altar or shrine. Antique Buddhist items are now extremely scarce in Nepal.
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