An Etruscan Cinerary Urn Lid Etruria, late 3rd-early 2nd century B.C.

Painted terracotta, depicting a lady of fashion in recumbent pose, her left arm with jeweled hand rests on a pillow, the right holds a domed libation bowl, the elegant folds of drapery largely concealing her form, the full neck leading to a face with delicately defined feature and painted detail, the curled hair tied by a chignon.

H: 10, W: 21, D: 12 in.

Note

Norman Stanley Potter (1926–1970) was a collector with wide-ranging interests who developed an eye for classical arts and built a collection of Asian art, antiquities, and early European art. Born to Polish immigrants in New York City, Potter began his self-edification in the arts while exploring the Metropolitan Museum of Art in his youth. As a prominent mathematician and engineer, he participated in the Manhattan Project and later was a designer of complex defense systems. Together with his wife, the abstract artist Berne Potter, he was active in the art and antique worlds of New York and became friends with important gallerists and collectors, including Julius Carlebach and Melvin Gutman.

Provenance

Carlebach Gallery, New York, acquired circa 1958, according to family tradition.

Property from the collection of Mr. Norman Potter.

Thence by descent.