Marble Cinerary Urn of Quintilia Chaerusa

Culture: Roman

Period: 1st century A.D.

Material: Marble

Dimensions: 33.4 cm x 28.2 cm x 26 cm

Price: Sold

Ref: 3762

Provenance: Found in Cumae. Recorded in 1873 in the inventory of the antiquities dealer Vincenzo Barone in Naples. Subsequently held in a Swiss aristocratic collection for at least four generations. Auctioned with the contents of the “Le Bois Muralt” at Christie’s London on 18 and 19 January 2000, lot 923. Most recently in an English collection.

Condition: Intact

Description: A beautifully preserved and published marble urn from Cumae in Campania. The cinerary urn, with its tall lid, is shaped like an altar. A recess at the top was intended for offerings. The name of the deceased, Quintilia Chaerusa, is engraved on the high front of the lid. The large inscription panel on the almost square cinerary chest was left blank, probably because the surviving family members (her husband and children), contrary to their original intentions, were buried elsewhere. It is also possible that the names or a portrait were once inscribed or painted on the panel and that the pigment has since disappeared. The family name Quintilia belonged to an ancient Roman noble family and explains the elaborate design of the urn. The cognomen Chaerusa suggests a connection with Greece, perhaps through the woman's original background. Her name on the lid is enclosed within a wreath of leaves. On the sides, palmettes extend outwards as a symbol of immortality. The chest itself is flanked by two fluted columns with capitals decorated with floral motifs, which continue onto the side panels. The central field is framed by leaf mouldings and a rope pattern (guilloche). Egg-and-dart mouldings border the composition above and below. The sides and back of the urn are plain. The urn is published in: Theodor Mommsen (ed.) „Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum“, Vol. X, „Inscriptiones Bruttiorum, Lucaniae, Campaniae, Siciliae, Sardiniae“, Part 1, Berlin 1883, p. 294, no. 2907. As well as in the Electronic Archive of Greek and Latin Epigraphy under number 135628.