Urartian Chalice of the Red Polished Ware

Culture: Urartian

Period: 7th century B.C.

Material: Terracotta

Dimensions: 16.9 cm high

Price: 1 600 Euro

Ref: 6520

Provenance: From an old German private collection. Auctioned with Gorny&Mosch on 14 December 2007 (incorrectly described as Roman terra sigillata ware), lot 416.

Condition: Two shards on the rim and one on the foot reattached with retouching the breaklines, but the pottery is complete.

Description: Large chalice of the Urartian Red Polished Ware (Toprakkale pottery) on a high, trumpet-shaped foot, which is hollow on the inside up to the base of the bowl. The surface is covered with a slip (clay glaze) of red clay and finely polished, possibly with leather. The massive bowl itself is semi-circular and far protruding with an inwardly curved rim. Right under the rim two encircling, incised circles. A rare, elegant form. See for Urartian Red Polished Ware, which was intended to imitate metal and often used as votive offerings in temples: Aylin Ümit Erdem “Urtartian Pottery”, Ege University December 2021, p. 263-266, as well as for chalice-type with a hollow foot ring page 269. See also: Oya San “Urartian Red Burnished Pottery from the Diyarbakir Museum”, p. 77.