Jug with animal protomes

This magnificent jug comes from Cyprus and is an extremely rare and early example of the "White-Slip Ware", which appeared on the island at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age (1650-1050 BC). Vases of this category were handmade (at least in the early phases) and were widely distributed both in Cyprus and abroad - as exports - until around the early 12th c. BC. The jug in the Museum of Cycladic Art and a similar one in the Louvre are remarkable examples of the so-called "Proto-White-Slip Ware" - the early stages of the style - dated to the mid-17th c. BC. Distinctive characteristic of the vase is the decoration on the shoulder with ibex heads modelled in the round. The application of animal protomes on vessels is a habit that continues the tradition of Middle Cypriot pottery. Researchers consider the said two jugs as products of the same workshop in the Pendayia area, in the bay of Morphou in northwest Cyprus, provenance of other Proto-White-Slip vessels with the same clay fabric and similar thick slip. Although the contexts of the two jugs are not known, their extravagant decoration most probably points to a ritual or funerary use.