登录
Egypt, circa 1550-1186 BC. Exquisitely carved, the globular body of lenticular section with sharply defined edges, rising to a high angled shoulder set with subtly modeled twin duck-head handles and surmounted by a short waisted neck with a flat disk rim. The finely polished, translucent stone is of a creamy ivory-white tone with attractive pale brown and white banding.
Provenance: Collection of Herbert Bier, London, thence by descent. Christie’s London, 6 July 2016, lot 108 (sold for GBP 5,000 or approx. EUR 8,300 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). A private collection in the United Kingdom, acquired from the above. Herbert Bier (1905-1981) was a German-born art dealer who established a distinguished career in London and played an important role in the international art trade of the mid-twentieth century. Born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Frankfurt, he moved with his family to Berlin after the First World War and was introduced to the art trade by his uncle, the prominent Frankfurt dealer Zacharias M. Hackenbroch (1887-1937). During his apprenticeship, Bier developed an extensive knowledge of European art and the art market through periods of study and work in Paris, Munich, Dresden, Florence, and London, as well as assistantships at the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin and the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. He emigrated to London in 1936, where he initially established a branch of Hackenbroch’s business and, following the death of his uncle in 1937, continued independently. From his office in St. James, which he shared with the Russian art dealer Vitale Bloch (1900-1975), Bier cultivated an extensive international network of dealers, curators, collectors, and museums. Travels in the United States with Bloch in 1937 and 1939 enabled him to study museum collections and establish relationships with curators, thereby developing a detailed understanding of gaps in both public and private collections. These connections flourished after the Second World War, and Bier supplied works to major institutions in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom, including the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. He also maintained close professional relationships with fellow dealers and specialists, among them the émigré scholar and Old Master drawings expert Edmund Schilling (1888-1974). The surviving archive of Bier, now held by the Wallace Collection in London, provides an important record of his activities and of the international networks that shaped the twentieth-century art trade.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, a minuscule chip and few minute nibbles to the rim, the stone with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into fine hairline cracks.
Weight: 270 g
Dimensions: Height 9.6 cm
From the Early Dynastic Period onwards, the Egyptians extensively quarried a stone commonly referred to as alabaster, although it is more accurately identified as travertine, a form of calcium carbonate. Whitish and slightly translucent, often marked by veins of contrasting color, the stone was obtained primarily in Middle Egypt, particularly in the region between Minya and Asyut. The most celebrated and important source was the quarries at Hatnub, near Amarna, while another major quarry, already exploited during the Old Kingdom, was located at Wadi Gerawi, near Helwan.
Prized for its pale color, translucency, and durability, Egyptian alabaster was associated with purity and employed for a wide range of prestigious purposes, including architectural elements, temple pavements, sarcophagi, altars and, above all, statuary and vessels. True alabaster, composed of gypsum or calcium sulphate, was also quarried in Egypt, notably in the Faiyum region. In Egyptological literature, however, this material is generally termed gypsum, while the designation Egyptian alabaster is conventionally applied to the calcite or travertine stone so characteristic of ancient Egyptian production.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related travertine piriform jar, dated Dynasty 18, 13.1 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 16.10.389a, b. Compare a related larger banded calcite vase, dated Dynasty 18, 29.9 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number EA55012. Compare a related alabaster pot, dated c. 2033-1069 BC, 7.5 cm high, in the Musée Rodin, Paris, accession number Co. 2788.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s London, 1 October 2015, lot 138
Price: GBP 5,000 or approx. EUR 8,400 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Egyptian alabaster jar, New Kingdom, 18th-20th dynasty, circa 1550-1069 BC
Expert remark: Compare the related form, manner of carving, and stone with similar flat disk rim. Note the similar size (11.5 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s London, 5 July 2024, lot 116
Price: GBP 7,200 or approx. EUR 6,700 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Egyptian alabaster jar, New Kingdom, 18th dynasty, circa 1550-1295 BC
Expert remark: Compare the related stone and manner of carving, with similar banding. Note the size (13 cm).
|
|
| Galerie Zacke | |
| 地址： | Zelinkagasse 6, 1010 Vienna, Austria |
| 电话： | 0043-1-5320452 |
| 邮编： | 1070 |
| 向卖家提问 | |
