Minoan stone bowl
€4,350
available
Object number
AR3515
| Object: |
Minoan stone bowl
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| Material: |
Nicely textured stone. Serpentine.
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| Period: |
Circa 1600 to 1450 BCE. Late Minoan I. |
| Description: |
Thick-walled bowl made of beautiful stone, elegantly shaped like a bird's nest. This type of vessel comes from Crete and is characteristic of the Minoans. Such a bowl was possibly used as a container for ointments.
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| Background: |
Stone vessels such as this one were high-quality versions of the usual terra cotta and metal vessels. The bowls, whose shape is reminiscent of a bird's nest or a lotus flower, were a Minoan speciality. They reveal the extraordinary skills of the Cretan stonemasons, who worked with a variety of decorative stones and exported their works throughout the eastern Mediterranean. The artists created these stone vessels using hammers, chisels and metal saws. Metal drills with abrasives were used to hollow out the interiors. Some of these technique may have been adopted from the Cyclades, where marble vessels were made already during the Early Bronze Age. The influence of Egyptian stone vessels, some of which reached Crete, is also evident. The bowl offered here was made from serpentine stone, a local stone that, when polished, reveals a decorative surface. For a collection of Minoan artefacts, this is an outstanding work of art that combines both history and craftsmanship. The elegant design and artistic workmanship still appeal to the senses today. |
| Dimensions: |
12.4cm diameter and 7.0cm height.
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| Condition: |
Some chips on the body, in particular a larger and probably ancient chip on the foot, as well as a 6cm x 5cm chip on the side that has been filled in modernly. Some stable cracks in the body that impressively underline the age. Overall, a beautifully preserved vessel that still gives a vivid impression of this long-ago period.
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| Provenance: |
Acquired by us in 2024 on the German art market. Previously in a German private collection, collection number 31. We have a copy of the collector's inventory card. Acquired into the collection in 1990 from the Swiss gallery Herbert A. Cahn. The bowl is illustrated by the gallery in catalog 1 "100 Works of Antique Small Art" from December 1989, p. 2, no. 2.
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| References: |
Cf. Metropolitan Museum of Art, acc. no. 2001.761.6. Cf. British Museum, acc. no. 1914,0321.1. For Minoan bowls on the art market, see a simple bowl at Christie's London auction 2 April 2014, lot 121, sold for 4,500 GBP (equivalent to around 5,400 EUR at the time), and a beautifully decorated bowl at Christie's New York auction 8 June 2012, lot 54, sold for 18,125 USD (equivalent to around 17,000 EUR at the time). |
| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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