Two-handled Jar

This fine two-handled vessel (amphora), which likely once had a flat lid, is made of purple- and turquoise-glazed faience, a vitreous material made of ground quartz mixed with small amounts of lime and natron or plant ash. At the junction of the vessel’s shoulder and body a stylised band of leaves is applied above a ring of fluting.

These leaves are evocative of the Ptolemaic custom of draping urns with bronze or vegetal wreaths, introduced to Egypt by Alexandrian Greeks. It may also relate to the Egyptian custom of placing garlands around the necks of mummies, which dates back to the New Kingdom. These also resemble the wreaths depicted on Roman Period mummy portraits and masks. While the amphora’s decoration suggests that it could have been used in a funerary context, such vessels may also have been used in daily life as storage jars.