**Previously listed at 250**

India, Chandraketugarh Period III, Shunga (Sunga) Period, ca. 185 BCE to 50 CE. An incredibly rare find from a little-known area, this is an example of fine red pottery with a stamped design. This is a delicate vessel, with a wide, flared foot, a conical body, a long neck, and a flared spout that mirrors the shape of the foot. Stamped designs and bulbous spikes around the neck give it an intricate, unique look. Size: 3.6" W x 6.65" H (9.1 cm x 16.9 cm)

Chandraketugarh, located northeast of modern day Kolkata, was a large fortified settlement with high ramparts and wooden housing on both sides of the fortifications. Period III was the most prosperous period, when the level of pottery production seems to have been the finest - as well as the most influenced by contact with the Romans (or at least, their trade goods). Beginning in this period and continuing to ca. 650 CE, their pottery was bright, with intricate designs created by painting, stamping, incisions, molding, and appliqueing. Vases like this one were not handmade - they were made by specialists in an urban economy and were made for an urban, elite or at least middle-class clientele. The quality of this vase speaks to Chandraketugarh's place along the Indian Ocean trade routes and its cosmopolitan culture.

Provenance: Ex-Orange County, California collection

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#118059

Repair to the base; tiny repair to rim, with some losses there.