Published: Massimo Vidale, Treasures from the Oxus. The Art and Civilization of Central Asia, London/New York, 2017, p. 59, no. 51, described as banded calcite or travertine.

Oxus Civilization. The compressed globular bowl supported on a tall splayed foot. The stone of a cream color with faint veins of white and ochre.

Provenance: Bruno Cooper, Norwich, United Kingdom, 2009. Paolo Bertuzzi, acquired from the above in 2009. A copy of the original invoice from Bruno Cooper, Norwich, dated 18 October 2009, describing the piece as a high stemmed cup, attributed to Bactria and dated 3^rd millennium BC, stating a purchase price of EUR 2,800 or approx. EUR 3,700 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing, accompanies this lot. Paolo Bertuzzi (1943-2022) was a fashion stylist from Bologna, Italy. He was the son of Enrichetta Bertuzzi, founder of Hettabretz, a noted Italian fashion company with customers such as the Rothschild family, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. Paolo Bertuzzi later took over his mother’s business and designed exclusive pieces, some of which were exhibited in the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, USA. He was also an avid collector of antiques for more than 60 years. His collection includes both archaic and contemporary art, and he edited two important books about Asian art, Goa Made - An Archaeological Discovery, about a large-scale archaeological project carried out with the Italian and Indonesian governments, and Majapahit, Masterpieces from a Forgotten Kingdom.
Condition: Good condition with old wear, small chips and nicks to the edges, signs of weathering and erosion, and encrustations.

Weight: 1,168.4 g
Dimensions: Height 17.1 cm

The Oxus Civilization or Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (short BMAC), recently dated to c. 2250-1700 BC, is the modern archaeological designation for a Bronze Age civilization of Central Asia, previously dated to c. 2400-1900 BC, by Sandro Salvatori, in its urban phase or Integration Era. Though it may be called the "Oxus civilization", apparently centered on the upper Amu Darya (Oxus River) in Bactria, most of the BMAC's urban sites are actually located in Margiana (modern Turkmenistan) on the Murghab river delta and the Kopet Dagh mountain range. There are a few later (c. 1950–1450 BC) sites in northern Bactria, currently known as southern Uzbekistan, but they are mostly graveyards belonging to the BMAC-related Sapalli culture. A single BMAC site, known as Dashli, lies in southern Bactria, the current territory of northern Afghanistan. Sites found further east, in southwestern Tajikistan, though contemporary with the main BMAC sites in Margiana, are only graveyards, with no urban developments associated with them. BMAC sites were discovered and named by the Soviet archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi when he was excavating in northern Afghanistan between 1969 and 1979. Sarianidi's excavations from the late 1970s onward revealed numerous monumental structures in many sites, fortified by impressive walls and gates. Reports on the BMAC were mostly confined to Soviet journals. A journalist from The New York Times wrote in 2001 that during the years of the Soviet Union, the findings were largely unknown to the West until Sarianidi's work began to be translated in the 1990s.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 6 December 2007, lot 61
Price: USD 16,250 or approx. EUR 22,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Bactrian alabaster chalice, circa late 3rd-early 2nd millennium BC
Expert remark: Compare the related form and material. Note the size (34.9 cm).