TALL, HANDLED ALABASTER JUGLET, MIDDLE BRONZE AGE, 1850 - 1550 B.C.E. 17cm height!! (6 1/2+"), A wonderful, showy and rare piece. The lip and handle at top are  More »

TALL, HANDLED ALABASTER JUGLET, MIDDLE BRONZE AGE, 1850 - 1550 B.C.E. 17cm height!! (6 1/2+"), A wonderful, showy and rare piece. The lip and handle at top are mostly professional reconstructed, however the great majority of the vessel and the leg are original, (some small chips to leg). Additional photo at bottom. Please note: Set shipping rates are only for shipping in the USA. If you are an international customer, contact us first for shipping quote. A TALL (17cm-6 12"+!), BEAUTIFUL and RARE vessel and priced like a simple 2" - 3" alabaster vessel!   « Less

If this powerful figure,a fish with two riders, had a utilitarian purpose, it would have been as a handle for a needle-like point fitted into the mouth area. This is  More »

If this powerful figure,a fish with two riders, had a utilitarian purpose, it would have been as a handle for a needle-like point fitted into the mouth area. This is unlikely, however, as the two figures would impede ease of use. Siberia-Alaska Area (?)pre-Christian Era. Approximately 8-1/2 inches in length, 2-3/4 inches high and one inch deep.   « Less

Apulian Red-Bell Krater - SF.046 Origin: Magna Graecia Circa: 400 BC to 300 BC Dimensions: 13.75" (34.9cm) high x 15.25" (38.7cm) wide Collection: Classical Style:  More »

Apulian Red-Bell Krater - SF.046 Origin: Magna Graecia Circa: 400 BC to 300 BC Dimensions: 13.75" (34.9cm) high x 15.25" (38.7cm) wide Collection: Classical Style: Apulian Medium: Terracotta   « Less

Decorated with a lively pattern of incisions, this graceful vessel perhaps contained fine oil or wine during the sunset of the Classical world. When we hold it today, we are  More »

Decorated with a lively pattern of incisions, this graceful vessel perhaps contained fine oil or wine during the sunset of the Classical world. When we hold it today, we are aware of the touch of ancient hands: shaping it, decorating its surface, selling it in some bustling marketplace, pouring out is precious contents. In its presence, those ancient persons, otherwise forgotten, come briefly alive. We feel the energy of their lives and we become part of the unbroken chain of history. - (P.0485)   « Less

Throughout antiquity, the ostrich was esteemed as a noble bird, prized for its size, its speed, its feathers and its eggs. The pharaohs of Egypt are depicted hunting the  More »

Throughout antiquity, the ostrich was esteemed as a noble bird, prized for its size, its speed, its feathers and its eggs. The pharaohs of Egypt are depicted hunting the ostrich, and fans made from the tail feathers have been valued because of their unusual size and perfect shape. In the Biblical era, the rare eggs were something turned into offering vessels or lamps for sacred shrines. Who gave this gift to some unknown god, hoping to win the favor of the deity? This graceful object acts like a key to the past, opening the doors of the imagination. - (P.2516)   « Less

Throughout antiquity, the ostrich was esteemed as a noble bird, prized for its size, its speed, its feathers and its eggs. The pharaohs of Egypt are depicted hunting the  More »

Throughout antiquity, the ostrich was esteemed as a noble bird, prized for its size, its speed, its feathers and its eggs. The pharaohs of Egypt are depicted hunting the ostrich, and fans made from the tail feathers have been valued because of their unusual size and perfect shape. In the Biblical era, the rare eggs were something turned into offering vessels or lamps for sacred shrines. Who gave this gift to some unknown god, hoping to win the favor of the deity? This graceful object acts like a key to the past, opening the doors of the imagination. - (P.2708)   « Less

With his arms clasped reverently to his chest, this powerful figure stands in awe before some god the world has now forgotten. He evokes a distant age, a time when man felt  More »

With his arms clasped reverently to his chest, this powerful figure stands in awe before some god the world has now forgotten. He evokes a distant age, a time when man felt more helpless before the forces of the cosmos. Even after all these centuries, his quiet dignity in the face of the unknown has the power to move us. - (PF.0167)   « Less

The history of glass making before the Industrial revolution can be separated in two stages: in the first, which began in the 3rd millennium BC and ended in the period from  More »

The history of glass making before the Industrial revolution can be separated in two stages: in the first, which began in the 3rd millennium BC and ended in the period from 100 to 50 BC, craftsmen discovered how to transform raw materials into glass and how to make vessels and other objects either with moulds or by forming a molten glass around a removable core. Both techniques were labour-intensive and were seldom made in big quantities. In the second stage, beginning in the 1st century AD in the Syro-Palestinian region, glass workers found that molten glass could be formed by inflation and manipulation with tools. Glass blowing enabled them to make quickly a wide range of shapes, thus widening its market. However, after the 2nd century AD, glass is generally found in a more confined area. The change appears to have taken place under the Flavian Emperors (69-96 AD), an era that in many ways represents a watershed in the history of glass making. It is from this time onwards that glassblowing in the East and the West developed along independent lines, the only exception being fine tableware decorated with special techniques, which was probably due to the still unifying factor of the Roman Imperial administration. Yet, the most prolific period in the history of glass in the Eastern Mediterranean was during the late Roman Empire, when Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Cyprus, Asia Minor and the north Pontic region all had flourishing glass industries. With the increased demand for glass, regionalism became the dominant factor in the production of glass vessels. Marked regional differences existed not only between the glass made in Syria, Jordan and Palestine, but even between different parts of Palestine (inland vs coast; Galilee and Phoenicia vs Judea). The glass industries of these regions experienced a prolonged period of growth, and the late Roman and early Byzantine period were by far the most important not only in terms of absolute output but also in terms of typologies used. Only during this period, glass was finally used by different strata of societies, sometimes even replacing pottery for certain functions.   « Less

Older than memory, this is the great female deity, the goddess of fertility. Whatever guise she takes, her chief function is to make fecund the earth, men and beasts, to  More »

Older than memory, this is the great female deity, the goddess of fertility. Whatever guise she takes, her chief function is to make fecund the earth, men and beasts, to insure the continuity of life. Sometimes she fills other roles--as a goddess of wisdom, of love, or of war--but her power over the fate of mankind is enormous. This votive was offered centuries ago by some person seeking her favor and protection. We do not know if the goddess granted the wishes of the ancient life, but we feel about her still the aura of benevolence and mystery - (SP.626)   « Less

This sturdy, simple vessel may once have held an offering of food. To the vanished age that created it, it was perhaps an unremarkable pot, notable more for its contents than  More »

This sturdy, simple vessel may once have held an offering of food. To the vanished age that created it, it was perhaps an unremarkable pot, notable more for its contents than its beauty. Yet, the passage of time has graced it with qualities it did not originally possess: it serves as a bridge to the past. We wonder whose hands once grasped its handles--perhaps Jacob's as he cooked his lentil stew--and we recognize that it radiates with the energetic touch of those ancient lives. - (P.0116)   « Less