EARLY CYCLADIC I, CIRCA 3200-2700 B.C.

Details

TWO CYCLADIC POTTERY PYXIDES
EARLY CYCLADIC I, CIRCA 3200-2700 B.C.
5 1⁄2 in. (14 cm.) diam. max.

Provenance

Lidded pyxis: Nicolas Koutoulakis (1910-1996), Paris and Geneva; thence by descent to the present owner.
Unlidded pyxis: Archéologie, Francois De Ricqlès, Drouot Richilieu, Paris, 29 and 30 September 1997, lot 447 (part).

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve. This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

For similar cylindrical pyxides with incised decoration, see J. Thimme ed., Art and Culture of the Cyclades in the Third Millennium B.C., Chicago and London, 1977, pp. 109-110 and 347-348, nos 388-391. Incised patterns on a burnished coarse clay were the most common form of decoration in Early Cycladic or Grotta-Pelos culture, sometimes enhanced by a white chalk-like filling. Pyxides were essentially lidded boxes, used for storing precious objects or cosmetics.

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