A Yortan Culture Blackware Pyxis, Western Anatolia, Troy I, 3500-2600 BCE

This unusual black footed vessel has a detachable lid and stands on four feet. The body of the vessel is widest in the middle and narrows at the top where it reaches the neck with wide flaring rim that supports a rounded lid. The vessel has two applied handles on either side, and the handles, neck and lid are all pierced for stringing and suspension.  The vessel also has a protrusion knob between the two handles and a space on the opposite side for a second. The outside of both the lid and the vessel are decorated by an incised geometric pattern. The vessel has two registers of "x's" separated by lines at the top and bottom of each register. The lid is decorated with four straight lines, two rows of "v" shaped lines, and four zigzagged lines, all stemming from the lid handle and extending to the edges of the lid.

for related example see:  T.Kamil, Yortan Cemetery in the Early Bronze Age of Western Anatolia, 1982, pl.4.6.

Dimensions:   Height: 3 1/2 in, width: 3 1/4 in, lid diameter: 2 1/4 in

Condition: Despite a small chip in the rim of the vessel, slight nicks to glaze and an abrasion on the body that indicates the absence of a protrusion, the vessel and lid are nicely intact and in very good condition overall.

Provenance:  The William R. Crawford collection of Ancient Glass and Antiquities, acquired in Cyprus prior to 1972.  This piece is accompanied by a copy of the export license issued to Mr. Crawford by Republic of Cyprus, Department of Antiquities.    William R. Crawford, a retired American career diplomat and expert on the Middle East and Cyprus, was Director of Arab-Israeli Affairs at the State Department between 1959-1964, and Deputy Chief of Mission in Cyprus thereafter.  In the 1970's, he was ambassador to Yemen and then to Cyprus and later became principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East and South Asian affairs.  He donated part of his collection to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts prior to his death in 2002.