Some antiquities I haven't previously posted

Here's a newly-arrived artifact -- obviously not the Egyptian bronze I mentioned that's currently being conserved! I've wanted an iridescent Roman glass vase ever since I first saw one more than 40 years ago, and this one very much appealed to me. It has different colors under different lighting, and when I stare at it long enough I see the night sky.

Dealer's description: Roman, 1st Century AD, blue/purple glass vase with wide folded rim and piriform [pear-shaped] body; surface has areas of vivid violet and blue iridescence. 12.4 cm high, 5.7 cm wide. Purchased Jan. 2021 from Helios Gallery, UK. Ex. Collection of Eric Moussel (1953-2019), Nogent-sur-Marne, France, acquired in Paris.

Dealer's photos:







With my own camera, even though I can see the violet/purple with my eyes in certain light at certain angles, I couldn't capture it in photos. Instead, it looks more dark blue, but that's accurate as well depending on the lighting. I hope you can see why I think it looks like the night sky:













Next: on the shelf with other antiquities.

 

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@DonnaML, that's just lovely. ...I'm starting to get some traction with Roman vases, only most especially the intact kind!

 

Wow!...Lovely looking piece!...You obviously don't have a problem with your cat wandering?

 

Very nice, I like it.

 

You should be able to zoom in to see the ones in the cabinet in the second photo, although I'm pretty sure I've posted most of them before.





Here's a closeup of the faience ushabti and limestone Sekhmet, which I just put together in the same glass bell jar to free one up for the new vase:

 

Well, he's almost 15, and he doesn't leap to the top of 6-foot bookcases in a single bound (or run up the sides) like he did when he was younger -- he's always been a big cat. Not fat, but big. In any event, they're on a bookshelf at my eye level (at 5 feet or so!), and there's no room on the shelf for him to get purchase or, worse yet, to get behind anything. Besides, even when he was young he never took an interest in antiquities or coins. They don't excite him. As long as I don't spray them with catnip, I think I'm OK.

 

@DonnaML, hoping your cat has Lots More Good Cat Years. (...Right, at 15, we can dispense with the 'Nine Lives' rhetoric; this is about Years.)
I'm quietly amazed at how you can find the space for all of this in a New York apartment. Never mind the brilliant way you've set them up.

 

Nice Roman vase, Donna. Looks great side by side with the ushabti and Sekhmet.

 

Talking about antiquities do you know this forum of discussions about it ? I think I have an impression of "déjà vu"...

https://www.antiquers.com/

 

I don't understand. I never heard of it. It seems to be about regular antiques, not antiquities.

 

Congrats on your great acquisition! So fun to acquire something you have been wanting for so many years! Nice, Donna! And, and nice feeling!

 

I asked the dealer from whom I purchased the vase -- Helios Gallery in the UK, who are rather well-known as dealers in ancient glass; I've purchased from them before* -- what it was about the vase that led them to date it to the 1st Century AD. I received the following response this morning:

"The shape is 1st Century though the colour can be found in glass throughout the Roman period albeit much less common than pale green or blue. We tend to go by the date attributions to shapes classified by The Carnegie Museum."

Always nice to receive a prompt response from a knowledgeable dealer!

By the Carnegie Museum, I believe the dealer means the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, which has a notable collection of ancient glass. In fact, there's a book about it published back in 1980.

*Among my antiquities purchased from the Helios Gallery over the last 15 years are the bronze antelope I posted earlier in this thread, my faience amulet of Bes (posted several times), and this squat blue-green 5th century AD Roman glass jar with some silver iridescence:

 

I'd be afraid to even touch some of the glassware Donna has posted, what an extraordinary collection.

 

@DonnaML........That's another beautiful piece!....I don't know about others but your photo showing the small shelf unit displaying lots of different pieces I find really appealing!...Why?..Well apart from the fact they are beautiful examples, I must have a pictorial dimensional problem (does that make sense?)...What I mean is seeing them together gives it some perspective, a wonderful display and must be very relaxing to admire.....You do have a good eye!

I do have one question and excuse my ignorance, how are these fragile pieces shipped?....I've been looking at buying some Roman pottery oil lamps but it just freaks me out thinking about their transit!

 

@DonnaML, those are all magnificent, but I need to ask, what period is that ishabti? It's museum-quality enough that if it was Late Period (26th Dynasty or later), I for one wouldn't blink.

 

Here's a close-up photo:



The answer to your question is 26th Dynasty. Here's the description from an October 1987 appraisal by Harmer, Rooke of the antiquities I owned at the time:

"Egyptian Faience Ushabti -Blue-green glaze worn in some areas. Uninscribed, Osiris type, figure holds crook and flail symbols of authority and wears tripartite wig and beard, symbols of royalty. Exceptionally well detailed face. 4 3/8" H. 26th Dynasty, Ca. 663-525 BC."

 

How are they shipped? With lots of bubble-wrap! For example, the blue/purple Roman glass jar that arrived from the UK yesterday via Federal Express is only 12.7 cm x 5.7 cm, but was shipped in a box that's 24 cm high x 31 cm wide x 24 cm. deep. Plus, it was given some kind of fragile/special handling designation. [Photo deleted for reasons.]

I trust this dealer, and other reputable dealers, to know what they're doing. I've had more ancient coins arrive broken (1) than antiquities (0) over the years. Knock on wood!

 

Thanks, @DonnaML. Remarkable that it was (always) uninscribed. To parse my train of thought by the second, your first enlargement, reemphasizing the fineness of the style, momentarily evoked an intentional erasure, along the lines of what happened routinely in monumental sculpture, at least from the 18th Dynasty.
In the context of the 26th Dynasty, does this example demonstrate that (Big Edit: Wish I'd retained the spelling, by now: ) ushabtis were already being produced on a proto-industrial scale?

 

Unfortunately, he was recently diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, so at best I'm afraid he has no more than a year or so left. But I try not to think about it. After all, he doesn't know, and as long as he's happy I'll try to be happy.

I'm a bit amused by your New York apartment question. After all, not all New York apartments are that tiny! Most lie somewhere in between the palatial duplex penthouse type and Ralph and Alice Kramden's Flatbush apartment from 1951. Besides, the antiquities don't really take up all that much space. In addition to the one living room bookcase shelf I posted, there's one other shelf directly to the left:





Plus a flat surface in my front hall with a bell jar containing my three Attic black-figure lekythoi (here photographed with the "bell" removed):



Plus, hanging on the wall to the bell jar's left, a small vitrine containing small amulets and other artifacts (it's mirrored in back, which makes the objects a bit difficult to photograph):



And that's it, folks! Only about 50 artifacts in all, accumulated over the last 40 years. Sometimes I wonder what my ancient coin collection might be like if I had devoted my time and money to it all those years instead of antiquities. But I'm really quite happy with the choices I made. Besides, my son really loves them, which is important to me.

In short, even in my 1 1/2 bedroom apartment (a "Junior 4," in realtors' lingo), I still have space left over for a few thousand books and other things (including one marble table for my five ancient coin trays and one coin & medal display case) after making space for the antiquities!

 

@DonnaML, That's All Great!!! Brilliant gestalt; unimaginable economy of space. My apartment (no cat, or, thank you, dog) is of a vaguely comparable scale.
...Reporting from the West Coast, Roger and Out.
PS Unsolicited vibage about you and your cat may ensue. ...You Were Warned.