Predynastic Period, Naqada III, 3250-3100 BC
Height: 49 cm
The tall vase of elegant form flares slightly from a narrow flat base to an everted disc rim.
A royal name, Hedjw-Hor, is incised high on the body of the vessel. The hieroglyphs are contained within a serekh, a symbolic form of enclosure representing the facade of a palace. This was the earliest convention used to set apart a royal name, a function later carried out by the cartouche.
Examples of this name were found by Hermann Junker during his excavations at Turah near Cairo, 1909-10. This ruler would have been one of many leaders reigning over local kingdoms in the period prior to the consolidation of Egypt, the period known as Dynasty 0 (though some academics today have introduced an even earlier Dynasty 00 to which Hedjw-Hor would have belonged).
This comes with a thermoluminescence test report from Oxford Authentication confirming its antiquity.
A near identical example was sold at Christie's, New York 5 December 2012, lot 104. A list of serekhs published on line by Francesco Raffaele includes three examples of this name. A slightly broader example of the type in pale terracotta from the Petrie Museum is included in the exhibition catalogue, 'Kemet alle Sorgenti del Tempo', Ravenna 1998, no.161. This is described as a wine jar.
Provenance: Private collection Switzerland, acquired 1960s and thence by descent; With Rupert Wace Ancient Art, 2012
Predynastic Period, Naqada III, 3250-3100 BC
Height: 49 cm
The tall vase of elegant form flares slightly from a narrow flat base to an everted disc rim.
A royal name, Hedjw-Hor, is incised high on the body of the vessel. The hieroglyphs are contained within a serekh, a symbolic form of enclosure representing the facade of a palace. This was the earliest convention used to set apart a royal name, a function later carried out by the cartouche.
Examples of this name were found by Hermann Junker during his excavations at Turah near Cairo, 1909-10. This ruler would have been one of many leaders reigning over local kingdoms in the period prior to the consolidation of Egypt, the period known as Dynasty 0 (though some academics today have introduced an even earlier Dynasty 00 to which Hedjw-Hor would have belonged).
This comes with a thermoluminescence test report from Oxford Authentication confirming its antiquity.
A near identical example was sold at Christie's, New York 5 December 2012, lot 104. A list of serekhs published on line by Francesco Raffaele includes three examples of this name. A slightly broader example of the type in pale terracotta from the Petrie Museum is included in the exhibition catalogue, 'Kemet alle Sorgenti del Tempo', Ravenna 1998, no.161. This is described as a wine jar.
Provenance: Private collection Switzerland, acquired 1960s and thence by descent; With Rupert Wace Ancient Art, 2012
