Hallstatt Urn with Top Lid and Small Additional Bowl

Culture: Middle Europe/Hallstatt Culture

Period: Hallstatt B, Urnfield period, 1000-800 B.C.

Material: Terracotta

Dimensions: 30.3 cm high (including top lid); 30.1 cm in diameter (top lid); 6 cm in diameter (small additional bowl)

Price: 6 000 Euro

Ref: 5274

Provenance: Found in 1922 by Dr. Erich Rademacher, son of the first director of the Cologne Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte Carl Rademacher. Since around 1980 in the collection G. T. Dormhagen. With an old collection label and old excavation inscriptions on the body, lid and small additional bowl.

Condition: Body professionally reassembled from a few original pieces. Top lid with a stable crack and two reattached shards. The small additional bowl also reattached and with chips. Overall, a rare, completely preserved funerary ensemble dating to the Urnfield period.

Description: Complete terraccotta urn with body, top lid and small additional bowl dating to the Hallstatt B period. The bulbous vessel tapers downwards and stands on a flattened, round base. The body is abundantly decorated with horizontal and diagonal grooves in the upper part. The rim is far pulled out and smooth. Belonging to the urn is a massive top lid with a vertical rim, tapering upwards with a flat finish. Completing the ensemble is a small clay bowl, which together with the urn were found in 1922 in the burial ground “Hohe Schanze”, Altenrath in the German Wahner Heide, according to inscriptions on all three pieces. Considered as the excavator is Dr. Erich Rademacher, son and staff of the famous Cologne archaeologist Carl Rademacher (1859-1935), who also was the first director of the Cologne Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte.