Late Bronze Age III

Faience flask

Faience was first imported to Cyprus from Egypt in the Late Bronze Age. Faience vases were also made locally in a style that reflected Egyptian, Levantine, and Aegean influence. The shape of this flask is Aegean, and the bull motif is similar to Egyptian representations. Most of the original painted decoration has worn off. H. 4 11/16 in. (11.9 cm)

Date

1250 - 1150 BC

Accession No.

74.51.5073

Collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance

Said to have been found in a tomb near Dali (Idalion), Cyprus

References

Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1903. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 3. pl. CIX, 1, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 1570, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Foster, Karen Polinger. 1979. Aegean Faience of the Bronze Age. p. 52, n. 339, New Haven: Yale University Press.Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 98, pp. 62-63, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.