Phoenix Ancient Art S.A.

In spite of many breaks, this piece is remarkable for its weight and size (the walls are very thick), which is practically unparalleled due to the difficulty of working with this material. The surface is partially worn but preserves the sky-blue and glazed white colors: the general composition and all the decorative details are still very clear.

This large, oval faience jar has a very smooth profile that rises from a circular, slightly concave bottom; a small bulge visible on the upper part of the shoulder could indicate the location of a handle.

The ornamentation is very rich: bands of geometric patterns (water clocks, volutes, triangles) frame the principal frieze along the center of the body consisting of the same scene repeated twice.A standing female figure, frontally oriented and dressed in a short tunic that leaves the breasts bare, holds two sphinxes by their tails: the two winged monsters with lion’s bodies but female heads are represented heraldically. They each rest one of their forefeet on a date palm and turn their heads towards the central figure; a high cylindrical tiara covers the sphinx’s head.

This scene is probably related to the mythological and/or cult sphere: the woman dominating the wild beasts and the monsters is a well-known figure in Near Eastern art, the mistress of animals and of the uncontrollable forces of nature. One also notes the presence, on the bottom of the scene, of circular rosettes of various sizes, whose centers recall the symbols of the star (the god­dess Ishtar) or even of the sun (god Shamash) - without exactly reproducing them.

Although large faience containers of similar size and decoration were found in many of the private houses at Assur, sometimes later dated to the Assyrian Period, the archaeologists believe that these objects were manufactured for religious use in temples or that they belonged to a group of royal household goods.

ANDRAE W., Farbige Keramik aus Assur und ihre Vorstufen in altassyrischen Wandmalereien, Berlin, 1923.

Das Vorderasiatischen Museum Berlin, Mainz on Rhine, 1992, p. 190, n. 128.

On ancient faience in general, see:

Faïences de l’Antiquité, De l’Egypte à l’Iran, Paris, 2005.