Galerie Golconda

Miniature vase of black-veined white marble in the shape of a shrunken ellipse. The belly is globular. The neck is short and marked by a fine abrasion. The lip is rounded and well-defined. The interior is as well wrought as the exterior with a well-hollowed out and marked body. The whole presents a fine thickness and an exterior that is perfectly smooth and shiny even though obviously hand-made. Some very old nicks. Overall fine condition with no repair.
The Thinite period includes the first and second dynasties of Egypt, of which the first king was Narmer who unified Upper and Lower Egypt and founded Memphis (Cairo). The production of vases and lapidary slabs of great quality is characteristic of this period, with the use of different bits to hollow out the vases according to the desired shapes. They could be tubular and made of copper or reed, but also of solid wood or hard stone. In each case, the use of an abrasive (powder from ground hard stone) and a lubricant (wax) was indispensable. The polishing was carried out over several stages with the aid of the abrasive and water.