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Lot Essay
During the Roman Republic and continuing into the early Imperial period, cremation was the most common method for dealing with mortal remains. The ashes were interred in vessels of various materials, depending on economic status, ranging from wood to clay to glass to stone. The urns were frequently placed in columbaria, subterranean vaults with rows of niches. Stone urns were usually of marble but sometimes more exotic materials were used, such as porphyry, granite or alabaster. The most common shapes for the marble examples were square, usually with a pedimented lid, or cylindrical, with a conical lid. Both types were frequently sculpted with elaborate relief decoration, and often the front would have an inscribed plaque identifying the deceased and his or her affiliations. The decoration anticipates what would come to be employed on sarcophagi beginning in the 2nd century A.D., when inhumation replaced cremation.
Another considerably rarer type of marble urn takes the form of a vase, either squat or ovoid in form. On the examples presented here, the surfaces are beautifully ornamented with waved fluting, usually referred to as strigilation for its similarity to the tool used to scrape oil off the body after a bath. Both narrow towards the base and stand on a disk foot and have upturned handles on the shoulders. On one, the handles are fluted along their length; on the other, the handles are smooth but for raised ridges at their apexes. The rounded rims are slightly flaring, with their upper surfaces recessed to conform to the underside of the now-missing lids. For a related example in Rome, preserving its lid, see no. 155 in A. Giuliano, Museo Nazionale Romano, Le Sculture, vol. 1,1. Another related example has a recessed inscribed plaque on the shoulders, no. 2402 in A.H. Smith, A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, vol. III. Some strigilated examples have elaborate handles in the form of intertwined snakes (see no. 133 in P. Zanker, S. Hemingway, C.S. Lightfoot and J.R. Mertens, Roman Art: A Guide through the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Collection). The authors indicate that for a vase that does not have a funerary inscription, it is impossible to know if it was intended for use as a cinerary urn or if instead it served a purely decorative function.
Another considerably rarer type of marble urn takes the form of a vase, either squat or ovoid in form. On the examples presented here, the surfaces are beautifully ornamented with waved fluting, usually referred to as strigilation for its similarity to the tool used to scrape oil off the body after a bath. Both narrow towards the base and stand on a disk foot and have upturned handles on the shoulders. On one, the handles are fluted along their length; on the other, the handles are smooth but for raised ridges at their apexes. The rounded rims are slightly flaring, with their upper surfaces recessed to conform to the underside of the now-missing lids. For a related example in Rome, preserving its lid, see no. 155 in A. Giuliano, Museo Nazionale Romano, Le Sculture, vol. 1,1. Another related example has a recessed inscribed plaque on the shoulders, no. 2402 in A.H. Smith, A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, vol. III. Some strigilated examples have elaborate handles in the form of intertwined snakes (see no. 133 in P. Zanker, S. Hemingway, C.S. Lightfoot and J.R. Mertens, Roman Art: A Guide through the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Collection). The authors indicate that for a vase that does not have a funerary inscription, it is impossible to know if it was intended for use as a cinerary urn or if instead it served a purely decorative function.