A WESTERN ASIATIC ALABASTER RHYTON WITH MOTHER GODDESS AND CHILD

A WESTERN ASIATIC ALABASTER RHYTON WITH MOTHER GODDESS AND CHILD
2nd to 3rd century AD. The curved rhyton with a tiered circular mouth and rope-twist handle, the body centered by the head of a female deity, her neatly incised hair forming a raised band above the lower section, the face bearing a calm smile, below the head of a child with large eyes and curled hair surmounted by a raised arch, the lower end of the vessel with further rope-twist decoration.
Provenance:
The collection of The Zelnik Istvan Southeast Asian Gold Museum. Institutional art collection in Belgium, acquired from the above. Dr. Istvan Zelnik, President of the Hungarian South and Southeast Asian Research Institute, is a former high-ranking Hungarian diplomat who spent several decades in Southeast Asia, building the largest known private collection of Asian art in Europe.
Condition:
Very good condition, commensurate with age, with wear, signs of weathering and erosion, minor chips, and soil encrustations.
Weight: 947 g
Dimensions: Height 20.3 cm
Museum comparison:
Compare a related ceramic rhyton with a female head from Mesopotamia, dated to the 3rd century AD, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 2001.178.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie's London, 3 July 2018, lot 43
Price: GBP 25,000 or approx.
EUR 39,500
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A late Parthian or early Sasanian turquoise glazed pottery rhyton, circa 3rd century AD
Expert remark: Compare the similar form and central female face. Note this lot is made of glazed pottery. Note the larger size (35.5 cm).