TEFAF - Ancient Art

Cinerarium carved from white marble, showing two draped male figures in a scene of final farewell, standing by a pair of open doors set below a shallow pediment with acroteria at the corners and a central wreath with ribbons in the tympana. Above them, a central plaque is uninscribed and is surmounted by a frieze of animals, a spotted panther in the centre, and either side, emerging from scrolling acanthus leaves, possibly a lion and an antelope engaged in a fight. The front vertical corners carved to resemble a pair of elaborate candelabra rising in multiple stages from foliate buds set in gadrooned urns, and surmounted by square burners from which flames rise on both the left and right sides, a branched olive tree is carved in shallow relief, filling most of the space, the back kept plain. Two sections of the proper right and back reattached, a hole drilled at the base of the interior, three square holes cut into the back and a series of holes around the rim, four for the original lid and two, both containing the remains of iron pins, for the restored lid, not shown.The open doors are a rare feature.

The open doorway motif has been interpreted by some as the doorway to the underworld, and by others as the door to the tomb. Eitherway, it acted as a symbol of the transition from life to death.