Hydria Vase with Greek Inscription, 3rd Century BC
£45,000
Clay, dark brown glaze
This type of vase owes its modern name to one of the main findspots, namely a cemetery in Hadra near Alexandria, where these vessels served as funeral urns and hence were sometimes furnished with details of the deceased. Most hydria date from the 3rd cent. B.C. and some have been found outside Egypt (on Crete, Cyprus and Rhodes).
Ptolemaic Egypt, probably Alexandria, late 3rd cent. B.C.
Product Description
Clay, dark brown glaze
Ovoid vase with near-horizontal shoulder, curved foot and cylindrical, slightly flared neck with collar mouth. Two horizontal handles on either side as well as a wide strap handle arching down from the neck onto the shoulder. The dark brown painting framed by two double stripes at the level of the side handles shows two laurel branches meeting in the middle and under them a band of rectangles containing laurel leaves framed by dots; vegetal flourish on the reverse. The horizontal handles are flanked by an hourglass motif. Vegetal decoration on the shoulder supplemented by bands of dots. Neck decorated with two laurel branches meeting in the middle; rim and handles with stripes and dots.
This type of vase owes its modern name to one of the main findspots, namely a cemetery in Hadra near Alexandria, where these vessels served as funeral urns and hence were sometimes furnished with details of the deceased. Most hydria date from the 3rd cent. B.C. and some have been found outside Egypt (on Crete, Cyprus and Rhodes).
The Greek inscription on our specimen is not easily decipherable. It mentions a date (the month Xandikos) as well as proper names, some of which are half Greek (half Egyptian?). A patronmymic points towards Aspendos in Asia Minor. The inscriptions reads: ς ενδεκατου ξανδικου…πτα και εικαδι Βεχιδαμου Ασπενδιου Εμ…ορουδι Ποιδωνιου του Πο.αχ.νος.ρα.μνε.
Condition:
Reassembled from large fragments with minor restoration work. One horizontal handle restored. Surface somewhat abraded; paint chipped in places..
Provenance:
Monsieur André Demunter (b.1942 - d. 2018), art restorer, Belgium, collected between 1970-2018.
Ptolemaic Egypt, probably Alexandria, late 3rd cent. B.C.
Ovoid vase with near-horizontal shoulder, curved foot and cylindrical, slightly flared neck with collar mouth. Two horizontal handles on either side as well as a wide strap handle arching down from the neck onto the shoulder. The dark brown painting framed by two double stripes at the level of the side handles shows two laurel branches meeting in the middle and under them a band of rectangles containing laurel leaves framed by dots; vegetal flourish on the reverse. The horizontal handles are flanked by an hourglass motif. Vegetal decoration on the shoulder supplemented by bands of dots. Neck decorated with two laurel branches meeting in the middle; rim and handles with stripes and dots.
This type of vase owes its modern name to one of the main findspots, namely a cemetery in Hadra near Alexandria, where these vessels served as funeral urns and hence were sometimes furnished with details of the deceased. Most hydria date from the 3rd cent. B.C. and some have been found outside Egypt (on Crete, Cyprus and Rhodes).
The Greek inscription on our specimen is not easily decipherable. It mentions a date (the month Xandikos) as well as proper names, some of which are half Greek (half Egyptian?). A patronmymic points towards Aspendos in Asia Minor. The inscriptions reads: ς ενδεκατου ξανδικου…πτα και εικαδι Βεχιδαμου Ασπενδιου Εμ…ορουδι Ποιδωνιου του Πο.αχ.νος.ρα.μνε.
Condition:
Reassembled from large fragments with minor restoration work. One horizontal handle restored. Surface somewhat abraded; paint chipped in places..
Provenance:
Monsieur André Demunter (b.1942 - d. 2018), art restorer, Belgium, collected between 1970-2018.
Ptolemaic Egypt, probably Alexandria, late 3rd cent. B.C.
Code:
11251
