Vessel with a lid
This beehive-shaped alabaster vessel is small and squat with a flat bottom and two pierced lug handles at the shoulder. Its lid has a pierced handle on top. This type of vessel was probably intended as a container that could be sealed by tying the handle on the lid to the lug handles on the vessel. Due to the weight of the stone and the skilled workmanship involved, it has been suggested that these vessels were made to hold a valuable commodity, perhaps a semi-solid ointment. They are found in southwestern Arabia in the last half of the first millennium B.C.
Artwork Details
- Title: Vessel with a lid
- Date: ca. mid-1st millennium BCE
- Geography: Southwestern Arabia
- Medium: Calcite alabaster
- Dimensions: H. 2 1/16 in. (5.3 cm)
Base: 2 13/16 in. (7.1 cm)
Mouth: 1 in. (2.6 cm)
Lid: 1 7/16 in. (3.6 cm) - Credit Line: From The Collection of Nina and Gordon Bunshaft, Bequest of Nina Bunshaft, 1994
- Object Number: 1995.67.1a, b
- Curatorial Department: Ancient West Asian Art
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ca. late 1st millennium BCE
ca. late 1st millennium BCE
ca. mid-1st millennium BCE
ca. 1st century BCE
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