1st millennium B.C. Three drum-shaped ceramic vessels each with a flared rim and flat underside, connected by spurs at the equator; painted linear motifs to the mouths, shoulders and sidewalls. Cf. similar if more elaborate item in the Metropolitan Museum of Art under accession no.74.51.661. 350 grams, 13 cm (5 1/8 in.).

From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

In the typology of ancient Greek pottery, the kernos (?????? or ???????, plural kernoi) was a stone tray to which were attached several small vessels for holding offerings. Its unusual design is described in literary sources, which also list the ritual ingredients it might contain. The kernos was used primarily in the cults of Demeter and Kore, and of Cybele and Attis. [No Reserve]