
Francesca Hickin
Head of Department
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£3,000 - £5,000
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Senior Specialist
Provenance:
Dr. Jan Beekmans (1927-2008) collection, Borken.
Anonymous sale; Bonhams, London, 3 October 2000, lot 400.
Private collection, New York, acquired from the above sale.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, New York, 11 December 2002, lot 82.
Property from a Princely Collection, acquired at the above sale.
For an alabaster vessel of similar form, though dated to the New Kingdom, see S. D'Auria et. al, Mummies & Magic, the Funerary Arts of Ancient Egypt, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1988, no. 78; it is noted that these small scale pieces must have been models, or votive objects. Tomb paintings depict situlae being used to pour milk in front of the coffin as part of the funeral procession, and to offer libations to the gods. The use of rock crystal, a rare and highly prized material, may suggest a royal use; indeed, another situla, in amtheystine quartz, was found in the tomb of Queen Tabiry at El-Kurru in Nubia.