Ancient Greece, Mycenaean, Late Helladic III, ca. 1425 to 1100 BCE. A lovely wheel-thrown pottery stirrup jar of a classic Mycenaean form with a bulbous body, a flat foot, conjoined twin handles, and a tubular side spout with a flared rim. The vessel is comprised of buff clay with buff slip and hand-painted with encircling bands in a red-orange hue, a repeated circular motif around the handles and side spout, and three sections of petite linear bands arranged in a bar formation around the top of the vessel. An extremely fine example from an era when Mycenae was at its peak of influence! Size: 5.25" W x 3.875" H (13.3 cm x 9.8 cm).

This period is so named for the palace at Mycenae, famed in Homeric legend as the opulent seat of King Agamemnon. Excavations at the palace at Mycenae revealed an elite and long-lasting society with a great deal of wealth. This extended to the workshops of artisans who produced pottery like this vessel both for use in Greece and throughout the Mediterranean world; shiploads of similar jars went out as far as the Levant and Spain, carrying oil, wine, and other commodities.

Published in "Beloved by Time: Four Millennia of Ancient Art." Fortuna Fine Art, Ltd., New York, 2000, p. 51, fig. 93.

A similar example hammered for GBP 1,625 ($2,159.76) at Christie's, London Antiquities Auction (sale 1561, October 1, 2014, lot 60): https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/ancient-art-antiquities/a-mycenaean-pottery-stirrup-spout-jar-late-helladic-5826646-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=5826646&sid=ef85f237-ce61-4ef7-8043-62e6e401ba42

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection

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#135274

Surface wear and abrasions commensurate with age as expected, very minor nicks to base, handles, shoulder, and spout, with some fading to pigmentation, otherwise near-choice. Light earthen deposits within recessed areas, and nice areas of scattered encrustations. Old sticker adhesive residue on base.