72 - A FINE BLACK SCHIST PYXIS WITH A PROCESSION OF FELINES, BACTRIA, CIRCA 2500-2200 BC

A FINE BLACK SCHIST PYXIS WITH A PROCESSION OF FELINES, BACTRIA, CIRCA 2500-2200 BC Finely carved in relief with a continuous procession of striding felines, each with a powerful body, long curling tail, and finely detailed head, wearing a broad collar decorated with a lozenge pattern. The bodies are pierced with numerous recessed spots, once set with contrasting inlays. The details are boldly worked with deeply incised facial features, fur, claws, and geometric ornament. Provenance: A private collection, assembled through acquisitions on the United Kingdom and international art markets before 2000. Thereafter in the private collection of a gentleman in West London, United Kingdom, acquired from the above. Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, small old repairs, several natural age cracks, scattered nicks, and minor encrustations. The original inlays are now lost, as commonly seen on related examples. Weight: 2.2 kg Dimensions: Height 10 cm, diameter 13.5 cm A pyxis is a small, usually cylindrical or round lidded container used in the ancient world primarily for storing jewelry, cosmetics, ointments, and other personal items. The term refers to the vessel type rather than its material, with surviving examples made of pottery, wood, ivory, metal, or stone. The continuous procession of powerful felines is characteristic of the luxury stone vessels produced across eastern Iran and Central Asia during the third millennium BC. Such vessels were frequently carved from dark chlorite or related stones and enriched with contrasting inlays of shell, calcite, or colored stone, creating a striking interplay between the dark ground and the recessed decoration. The numerous cavities covering the bodies of the present animals would originally have produced precisely such an effect. Literature comparison: Compare a silver cist for a mirror, the lid embossed with a coiled snake and the side embossed and engraved with a pride of resting lions, illustrated in Sandro Salvatori, “Early Bactrian Objects in Private Collections,” in G. Ligabue and S. Salvatori (eds.), Bactria: An Ancient Oasis Civilization from the Sands of Afghanistan, Erizzo Editrice, Venice, 1988, p. 219-220, fig. 87. Compare a chlorite Vessel with Two Zebu, circa 2600-2350 BC, probably from Tarut Island, with similarly recessed animal decoration retaining a small number of calcite inlays, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession number 2014.717. Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: Christie’s London, 1 October 2014, lot 143 Price: GBP 20,000 or approx. EUR 33,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: A Bactrian chlorite jar, 3 rd millennium BC, 9.5 cm diameter. Expert remark: Compare the closely related Bactrian origin, dark chlorite medium, short cylindrical form and boldly carved exterior decoration. Note the different serpent motif and smaller size (9.5 cm diameter). Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Christie’s London, 15 May 2002, lot 265 Price: GBP 19,975 or approx. EUR 44,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: A Western Asiatic chlorite jar, circa 2500 BC Expert remark: Compare the closely related cylindrical form, date, dark chlorite medium, relief carving, and deeply recessed settings originally intended for contrasting inlays. Note the different decoration of hybrid scorpion-men and slightly smaller size (7.3 cm high and 10.8 cm diameter).