model
- Museum number
- 2010,5001.1
- Description
-
Grey-green chlorite model of a bathtub or coffin; elongated body with slightly incurving sides and curving corners on a flat base; pair of small lugs on each of the long sides of irregular size; the outer sides decorated with incised ladder- and triangle-motifs; series of incised strokes along the flat rim; parallel chisel marks are clearly visible on the inside surface.
- Production date
- 1250BC-950BC
- Dimensions
-
Height: 4.60 centimetres
-
Length: 11.20 centimetres
-
Width: 4.90 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- See D. Bailey, 'Lamps in the Victoria & Albert Museum', Opuscula Atheniensia VI (1965), 5-13 for details of the Hake-Kitchener excavations.
Miniature models identified as bathtubs or coffins made of stone, clay or ivory are known from numerous Late Cypriot cemetery and settlement sites. Full-size examples in stone and terracotta are also common, especially from LCIIB-C down to CG I, including one from Episkopi-Bamboula Tomb 35 (Department of Antiquities excavations). They have been interpreted as bathtubs both for domestic cleansing and ritual purification (with some possible industrial use), but also as receptables for the dead when found in tombs. Their presence in both settlement and funerary contexts suggests that both explanations are correct, though the meaning of the symbolism when used in tombs is unclear. Was it simply a luxury possession enjoyed by the deceased during their lifestime, and therefore a marker of weath or status, or did it instead serve as a symbol of purification related to beliefs about death and the afterlife?
Additional bibliography: Collard D. 2008, Function and ethnicity: 'Bathtubs' from Late Bronze Age Cyprus. SIMA Pocket-Book 171 (Sävedalen); Karageorghis V. 2000, 'Cultural innovations in Cyprus relating to the Sea Peoples', in D. Oren (ed.) The Sea Peoples and their world (Philadelphia), 255-79.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1980
- Department
- Greek and Roman
- Registration number
- 2010,5001.1
- Additional IDs
-
Previous owner/ex-collection number: 421-1883 (V&A number)
