Romano-Egyptian breccia vase

 circa 1st century AD
Height: 35.6 cm; Diameter of mouth: 15.4 cm
 
Provenance: Private collection (N.E.), Switzerland, acquired 1960s and thence by descent
 
A large Romano-Egyptian breccia vase, with two decorated handles and of a very attractive rose-coloured stone. The broad shoulder tapers slightly to a flat base and sharply turns in towards a slim neck, culminating in an everted lip with a raised band around the mouth. The loop handles attach at the shoulder, with each attachment decorated with a scalloped motif. A decorative band has been carved around the delicate crest of each loop handle.
 
Condition: Part of one handle restored. Hole (possibly made for conversion of the vessel) in the base filled.
 
Literature: For a similar, though larger and less delicate, example of a Romano-Egyptian monumental vase with loop handles see one that was part of the Carlisle family collection at Castle Howard from 1801-2015, as published in B. Borg, H. Von Hesberg, and A. Linfert (eds.), 'Die Antiken Skulpturen in Castle Howard (Monumentis Artis Romanae)' (Wiesbaden, 2005), p. 19, and was sold at Sotheby's, London, 08 July 2015, Five Works of Art from the Collections of the Earls of Carlisle.