Live Auction 2364Antiquities Including Property from The Collection of Max Palevsky
A SOUTH ARABIAN ALABASTER LIDDED "BEEHIVE" JAR
Lot 60

A SOUTH ARABIAN ALABASTER LIDDED "BEEHIVE" JAR

CIRCA 3RD CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.

Closed9 December 2010

Price Realised

USD 12,500

Considering selling a similar item?

Discover its value with a complimentary estimate from our specialists.

More Information

How to sell

A SOUTH ARABIAN ALABASTER LIDDED "BEEHIVE" JAR
CIRCA 3RD CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.
Conical in form, on a flat base, tapering to the short cylindrical rim, the twin handles in the form of crouching lions, perforated horizontally, the domed lid surmounted by a standing lion, perforated horizontally
10 in. (25.4 cm.) high

Private Collection, France, 1975.

Specialist note

More than seventy "beehive" vessels have been published, most coming from the southwest of the Arabian peninsula, although some have been found in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf. The shape has traditionally been considered to have contained "perfumed oils, aromatic gum resins or semi-solid unguents." One inscribed example (p. 56 in Simpson, Queen of Sheba: Legend and Reality, Treasures from the British Museum), confirms that these were "used in the incense trade, and that they may even be regarded as branded packaging for one of the most desirable commodities of ancient Arabia."