A RARE LARGE GREY SCHIST EMBOSSED & ENGRAVED BACTRIAN COSMETIC VESSEL, CIRCA LATE 3RD-EARLY 2ND MILL

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A RARE LARGE GREY SCHIST EMBOSSED & ENGRAVED BACTRIAN COSMETIC VESSEL, CIRCA LATE 3RD-EARLY 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C. Of tall waisted form, the vessel rises from a square base, tapering inward at the midpoint before flaring gently outward to a square shoulder surmounted by a flat, stepped lid with a small central perforation. Each of the four faces is engraved with fine parallel lines arranged in opposing diagonal registers, producing a sequence of triangular fields that meet along the vertical arrises. The incised lines retain traces of a pale infill that reads against the dark grey ground of the stone, giving the surface its characteristic linear brilliance. Accompanying the vessel is a slender applicator or pin carved in the form of a serpent, the head modelled in the round with a small open mouth and incised eyes, the body engraved with a continuous chevron pattern tapering to a fine point. The geometric decoration on the vessel follows a system widely encountered in the luxury stoneworking of the Oxus civilisation, in which fields of dense parallel hatching are set against one another to produce a play of light across the polished surface. The zoomorphic applicator belongs to a well-attested class of cosmetic implements in which the serpent, an animal of chthonic and apotropaic significance across the ancient Near East and Central Asia, is chosen for objects associated with the body and personal adornment. The pairing of container and applicator indicates the vessel's function as a receptacle for kohl, pigment, or a comparable cosmetic substance, applied with the pointed tip. Grey schist and closely related chlorite-group stones were among the prestige materials of the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex, quarried in the mountainous zones of eastern Iran and Central Asia and worked into ritual and cosmetic objects that circulated widely across the Iranian plateau, the Persian Gulf, and Mesopotamia. Vessels of this class have been recovered from elite burials at sites in southern Bactria and Margiana, where they accompanied the deceased alongside seals, weapons, and metal ornaments. The labour-intensive engraving, the selection of a dark, fine-grained stone capable of taking a polish, and the pairing with a figural applicator all point to a high-status commission rather than a domestic utensil. The serpent applicator carries meaning beyond its practical role. In the visual repertoire of the Oxus civilisation and its neighbours, the snake appears repeatedly on seals, vessels, and metalwork, associated with regeneration, water, and the protection of thresholds. Its use here, as the instrument brought into contact with the eyes or skin, links a cosmetic act to a protective one. This ensemble exemplifies the refined lapidary tradition of Bactria at the close of the third millennium, in which geometric engraving on dark stone and figural carving in the round are brought together in objects of personal use. The survival of vessel and applicator as a matched set is uncommon, and the piece stands as a coherent statement of the aesthetic and material vocabulary of Oxus elite production. Private Japanese Collection 1965 Toronto Collection 1990 Acquired from above Property of a British Gentleman, thence by descent Height without stick: 11.5cm

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