AN EGYPTIAN PORPHYRY MORTAR
Property of a Gentleman (324-325)
AN EGYPTIAN PORPHYRY MORTAR

17TH CENTURY

Details
AN EGYPTIAN PORPHYRY MORTAR
17TH CENTURY
The oval vessel with moulded rounded base
7 ½ in. ((18.5 cm.) high; 8 ½ in. (22 cm.) diameter
Sale room notice
Please note that the height measurement of this lot is incorrect as stated in the printed catalogue and should be thus:

7 ½ in. ((18.5 cm.) high

Brought to you by

Paul Gallois
Paul Gallois

Lot Essay

The term porphyry is taken from an ancient Greek word for purple. The present mortar is made from a variety found only on Mount Porphyrites in Egypt. Highly prized by the ancient civilisation for its rich reddish-purple hue it was first mined in c4-c3 BC for the production of sarcophagi and stelae exclusively for the Ptolemaic rulers. When Egypt was later under the umbrella of the Roman Empire it was reserved solely for Imperial use. Columns, slabs and other architectural fragments later excavated from Roman ruins, were commonly re-carved into a variety ornaments. In the present case, being an extremely hard wearing igneous rock, it was deemed an ideal material for the purposes of a domestic or apothecary mortar.

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