
Francesca Hickin
Head of Department
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£10,000 - £15,000
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Head of Department

Senior Specialist
Provenance:
Anonymous sale; Millon & Associes, Paris, 19 April 2010, lot 3.
Property from a Princely Collection, acquired at the above sale.
These cinerary urns are thought to be modelled on houses of the same period with examples existing in both pottery and bronze; the roof would have been thatched and the walls made of wattle and daub. The recessed triangle in the roof above the door would have been a chimney hole. Sometimes the sex of the owner can be determined through decorative motifs on the side of the hut or through the inclusion of helmet or sword-like decoration on the lid. This example is adorned with a swastika on the door. For similar examples see the British Museum, London, reg. no. 1840,0111.15, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, acc. no. 1974.171a-b.