古埃及人 Faience 新年瓶，第二十六王朝 - 57 mm

“Ancient Egyptian Faience New Year’s Flask, 26th Dynasty

Culture / Period: Ancient Egyptian, Late Period
Date / Period: 6th - 4th Century B.C.
Material: Faience
Dimensions: 57 x 40 mm
Condition: Good condition, with surface wear, minor encrustation, and small losses consistent with age. The flask retains its characteristic form and decorative detail.

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Provenance information:
Object Registration ID: 13

The current owner purchased the Ancient Egyptian faience New Year’s flask, 26th Dynasty, from a private collector, N.N. in Utrecht.
The previous owner, a private collector, N.N. from Utrecht (the Netherlands), stated that the object had been in his collection since an unknown date.
According to the previous owner, the object had previously been in a private collection in the Netherlands since the 1970s.
No further information concerning the earlier ownership history of the object was available from the previous owner.

Background Information:
This small faience flask belongs to a well-known group of Ancient Egyptian miniature vessels commonly referred to as New Year’s flasks. These objects are associated with the Late Period and are generally linked to ritual practice, pilgrimage, and the transmission of sacred liquids. Their compact size and suspension holes indicate that they could be carried, worn, or deposited as personal devotional objects.

Such flasks were likely intended to contain a small quantity of water, oil, perfume, or another ritually significant substance. In the Egyptian religious world, the New Year was closely connected with renewal, regeneration, and the life-giving inundation of the Nile. Vessels of this kind are therefore understood within a ceremonial context in which sacred liquids played an important role in blessing, purification, and protection.

The present example, made of faience, reflects a characteristic Egyptian material tradition. Faience was widely used for amulets, small votive objects, and miniature vessels because of its bright glazed surface, often in blue or green tones that symbolically evoked life, rebirth, and fertility. Its manufacture required specialised knowledge, showing that such pieces were part of an established and highly organised craft tradition rather than isolated creations.

These flasks are closely associated with temple culture and popular religion in the Late Period, particularly during and after the 26th Dynasty, when older religious traditions were consciously maintained and revived. They could have been acquired by worshippers visiting sanctuaries and may have served as containers for blessed substances distributed in a sacred setting. Examples are known from Egyptian religious sites and collections worldwide, illustrating the broad circulation and enduring significance of this vessel type.

Dated to the Late Period, broadly between the 6th and 4th century B.C., this flask belongs to an era in which Egypt preserved a strong visual and religious identity while remaining connected to wider Mediterranean networks. Objects of this type offer valuable insight into personal devotion and the material expression of religious belief in everyday life.

This piece forms a tangible connection to the ancient world, in which small devotional vessels such as this played a meaningful role in ritual practice, belief, and the daily religious life of Ancient Egypt.”