Late Period, 664-332 BC. A limestone square offering table with slightly chamfered edges, the lower part roughly carved; the top carved with four panels, the upper two with representations of offerings, the lower with two recessed panels for food offerings either side of a long channel which projects slightly for liquid offerings. 8.16 kg, 30 x 33cm (12 x 13"). Property of a Jerusalem gentleman; inherited from his father who acquired them in the 1970s. Offerings of food were basic to the continued existence of the gods and the dead alike. They were often presented to them on special tables. In the homes these might stand in niches in a room used as a domestic shrine, in temples in rooms dedicated to offerings and in tombs below ground if there was an accessible chapel, otherwise it was placed on the ground on top of the grave or in specially built funerary chapels. During the Old Kingdom food offerings were presented to the deceased lucky enough to have a substantial tomb on stone platters or offering tables in front of their funerary stele or false door, but for most the offerings were probably, a loaf of bread and a cup of beer placed on top of a mat. The stone offering tables of the wealthy imitated these simple reed mats and were decorated with food stuffs and inscribed with the offering prayers, which would nourish the deceased through their magic, if real foodstuffs were not provided. In depictions the offering tables are laden with a great variety of exquisite foodstuffs, and quite possibly that was the quality and quantity of offerings customary among the rich. The offering table was often placed in front of the false door in the funerary chapel, through which the soul of the deceased person was believed to pass so that they could partake of the offerings. In the Middle Kingdom offering tables fell out of fashion in favour of models of food, along with models of servants and buildings that were required by the deceased, and which were believed to magically come to life in the next world. Fair condition.
We found 235346 price guide item(s) matching your search
There are 235346 lots that match your search criteria. Subscribe now to get instant access to the full price guide service.
Click here to subscribe- List
- Grid
-
235346 item(s)/page
20th century AD. A silver cup with deep bowl on an ornamented stem with repoussé decoration to the outer face depicting two male couples engaging in coitus, with a slave boy in the background observing the scene from behind the door; a lyre, double-flute, and draperies to the background; parcel-gilt rim and interior to the bowl; accompanied with a presentation box with text to the inner lid 'The Warren Cup Replica'. The silver Roman drinking vessel known as the Warren Cup dates from the reign of Nero in the first century A.D. Discovered in the late nineteenth century, it was soon purchased by E.P.Warren (1861-1928), a wealthy American anglophile and the pre-eminent collector of antiquities in his day. Upon Warren's death, no museum dared acquire or exhibit the cup, and in 1953 it was denied entry into the US. The cup has recently been the subject of widespread scholarly interest because of its unique place in the history of sexuality, and it is now on permanent exhibition in the Greek and Roman department of the British Museum, where it can assume its rightful place in art history. Accompanied by a copy of the publication Williams, D. The Warren Cup, The British Museum Press, 2006. 562 grams, 11.5cm (4 1/2"). From an important London, W1, collection; acquired 1960-1980s. Possibly one of only six known silver replicas of the cup known to exist. Just one replica was ordered by Warren, which is now in the Ashmolean museum, Oxford, U.K. The cup would have formed part of a silver tableware used for banquets, an essential part of any wealthy Roman home. The cup finds parallels in ceramic Arretine cups that portray similar scenes of homosexual lovemaking. The imagery is possibly influenced by Greek examples that appear on vases and other pottery of the Classical period, and which emulate the ideal of youthful beauty and the practice of younger males being taken as lovers by older males. This was not just for sexual gratification, but also a form of sponsorship in which the youth received an informal education and guardianship. In the ancient world there were no words for homosexual and heterosexual and people could take lovers of any sex. In the Roman world it was the norm for a male to be the dominant partner, usually with a slave; for a Roman male to be the passive partner was seen as demeaning and against the concepts of the male dominated society. Images like this were not unusual in the Roman world. Some of the boys on this cup are underage by today's standards, but the Romans, like the Greeks, tolerated relationships between older and younger men. Relationships between men were part of Greek and Roman culture, from slaves to emperors, most famously the emperor Hadrian and his Greek lover, Antinous. Today such ancient images remind us that the way societies view sexuality is never fixed. [A video of this lot is available on the TimeLine Auctions website] Extremely fine condition.
AN ENGLISH MAHOGANY MUSICAL LONGCASE CLOCK, 19TH CENTURY BUYERS ARE ADVISED THAT A SERVICE IS RECOMMENDED FOR CLOCKS PURCHASED the 31cm silvered dial with Arabic minutes and Roman hour numerals, a subsidiary seconds dial below, spandrels to the corners with a cartouche depicting an eagle above, four pillar anchor movement striking on eight bells, the arched hood surmounted by spires, a pair of fluted columns flanking the door, the trunk with a shaped door with fluted canted corners, on a plinth base, on bracket feet, stringing throughout, distress, restorations 231,5cm high
A CHINESE EXPORT ROSEWOOD, BONE AND MOTHER-OF-PEARL INLAID DISPLAYCABINET, 20TH CENTURY the outswept cornice above a foliate-carved and pierced apron, and a pair of sliding doors below decorated with a village scene, enclosing a compartment, a door to the left enclosing a compartment, an arrangement of open shelves adorned with fretwork above a conforming door and pair of sliding doors, on a pierced and scrolled plinth base 163cm high, 100cm wide, 31cm deep
Early 19th century breakfront oak Welsh dresser, top fitted with three fixed shelves with panelled back with diamond lozenge to top, base fitted centrally with four drawers flanked either side by single drawer and panelled cupboard door with brass knob handles throughout, 67 ins wide x 20 ins deep x 75 ins high
Loading...-
235346 item(s)/page