Central Asia, modern day Pakistan / Afghanistan, Bactria (Bactria-Margiana / BMAC), ca. 3rd to 2nd millennium BCE. A gorgeous shallow dish carved from alabaster on a small circular textured base with thin walls expanding outward to a rounded body and flared rim. Naturally adorned in bands of caramel, sand, buff, and cream, this stunning bowl boasts a lovely iridescence in the sunlight. Alabaster, a light-colored, calcareous stone from the Iranian Plateau, has strong connections in ancient western and central Asia to religion. For example, in the site of Kultepe-Kanes, a huge burial mound, there were many disc-shaped alabaster idols, naked alabaster goddesses, and lion figures. We also know that alabaster was a precious material, widely traded in the region from the 4th millennium BCE onward. A dish like this one was likely made to be placed into a tomb to hold offerings. A beautiful vessel from early Bactria! Size: 6.26" W x 3.125" H (15.9 cm x 7.9 cm)

Provenance: Paul Henderson collection, Los Angeles, California USA from the private Oxford collection; previously in an old British collection, formed in the 1980s on the UK / International art markets

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#159521

A few internal stable hairline fissures, nicks, chips, and abrasions, most notably on rim, commensurate with age and use. Otherwise, intact and excellent.