URN
Roman Empire, circa 1st Century B.C.

marble

width 38 cm | 15 in

Provenance
Private collection, Chicago
Galerie Nefer, Zurich, 7 June 1984
Sotheby's, London, Antiquities, 12-13 December 1983, Lot 303

This finely carved marble funerary urn reflects the Roman adaptation of Hellenistic decorative vocabulary to commemorative sculpture. The cylindrical body is richly ornamented with deeply carved vegetal scrolls framed by braided mouldings, motifs characteristic of the late Republican period.

Urns of this type formed part of Roman funerary practice during the late Republic and early Imperial period, combining commemorative function with elevated craftsmanship. Compact in scale yet sculpturally ambitious, the present example embodies the Roman sensibility for imbuing utilitarian forms with architectural and decorative richness.