A SOUTH ITALIAN BLACK-GLAZED TORTOISE

CIRCA 4TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

A SOUTH ITALIAN BLACK-GLAZED TORTOISE
CIRCA 4TH CENTURY B.C.
Naturalistically modelled, the short legs and head emerging from the curved carapace, the variously-sized scutes delineated, its head raised with deep-set eyes and a wide mouth, the underside with a rectangular aperture with inset tracks on either side for a sliding panel, now missing
3 in. (7.5 cm.) long

Provenance

C. A. collection, Geneva.
with Münzen und Medaillen A.G., Basel, 1975.
Anonymous sale; Auktion VII, J.-D. Cahn, Basel, 2007, lot 46.
with Charles Ede Ltd, London.
Prof. H.-H. Heissmeyer collection, Schwäbisch Hall, acquired from the above in 2008 (inv. no. 41).

Literature

Vases, 2015, p. 105, no. 36.

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Lot Essay

Though the purpose of this vessel is unclear, it may have been a child's toy - the aperture on the underside suggests that it may once have contained pottery pellets for a rattle. Many rattles have been found in the shape of various animals including birds and pigs, presumably to make them more appealing to their young owners. Similar tortoises have been found in children's tombs and in temples as offerings. For similar tortoises from Corinth and Attica cf. R. A. Higgins, Terracottas in the British Museum, I, London, 1969, pp. 79-80, 178 and 251, pls 35, 87 and 132, nos 191-196, 667-668 and 923. For a black-glazed tortoise cf. A. P. Kozloff, More Animals in Ancient Art from the Leo Mildenberg Collection, Mainz, 1983, p. 44, no. 67.

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