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This globular Bronze Age vessel is distinguished by its powerful, compact architecture, designed for stability and long-term preservation. The object imposes its presence through its raw, honest material: a coarse-grained terracotta (visible degreasing) that catches the light and bears witness to a vigorous shaping technique that predates the industrialization of ceramics. The piece is marked by a complex archaeological patina, blending the pinkish-ochre hue of firing with the grayish deposits of burial. The perforation visible on the body is not an alteration of its value, but a "scar of time": it guarantees the integrity of the ancient material, untouched and unadulterated by modern restorations, offering to the eye the naked truth of a millennia-old artifact.
Features
Object: Globular storage vase with two handles (Cooking Pot or Storage Jar).
Culture: Bronze Age (Levant / Canaan).
Period: 3rd - 2nd millennium B.C.
Material: Coarse ware, visible mineral inclusions.
Dimensions: Height 122 mm × Diameter 120 mm.
Condition: generally well preserved, with an old perforation on the body (stable) and surface erosion attesting to its age.
Provenance: Former private collection from Jerusalem, assembled between 1975 and 1990.
Authenticity: Certificate supplied.
Historical context
In the societies of the Levant and the Eastern Mediterranean during the Bronze Age, this type of vase played a central role in the domestic economy. Its rounded shape and wide neck made it ideal for storing solid foodstuffs (cereals, legumes) or for cooking. The presence of handles suggests that it could have been suspended to protect the contents from pests, or transported using ropes. These ceramics, produced locally for communal use, are silent markers of the sedentarization and organization of ancient households.
Formal and material analysis of the piece
Morphology and structure: the vase has a slightly flattened, spherical body, ensuring a large capacity in a compact volume. The short, flared neck allows easy access to the contents. The determining typological element is the presence of two small vertical handles (lug handles) attached to the shoulder, shaped by hand and welded to the wall with force.
Texture and Material: Surface examination reveals an unpolished paste, rich in inclusions (quartz, sand or grog), characteristic of utilitarian ceramics designed to withstand thermal or mechanical shock. Rough to the touch, it retains the memory of manual or slow-lathe shaping.
Patina and condition: The surface offers a rich chromatic variety, from warm beige to ashen gray, resulting from firing in a primitive kiln with a variable atmosphere. Whitish calcareous concretions, lodged in the interstices of the granular material, attest to a long subterranean sojourn. The perforation on the body, with its eroded but not sharp edges, confirms that this is an ancient accident, stabilized by time, and not a recent break.
Cultural value
This vase is an object of emotion and contact. It does not seek seduction through painted decoration, but commands respect through its age-old functionality. It represents the archetype of Bronze Age pottery: robust, necessary and technically mastered. For the collector, it offers the absolute authenticity of a piece "in its juice", whose imperfections tell the story of its survival through the ages.
Traceability & guarantees
History: The provenance is firmly anchored in a private collection from Jerusalem (1975-1990), guaranteeing a geographical origin consistent with the object's typology.
Appraisal: The object is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity guaranteeing its dating, culture and conformity of description.
Ref: R4NSUFI3FU