Throwing cup


Accession Number
EC1448
Current Location
House of Life (first floor), Games case
Object Type
Implements and utensils, Game, Dice/astragal, Throwing cup
Period
Graeco-Roman Period
Material
Wood
Provenance
Egypt, Akhmim
Number of Elements
1
Culture
Egyptian
Measurements
Height: 130mm | Diameter: 93mm

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Description

Wooden cylindrical container with no lid. Based on a very close parallel in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/551145), this object is possibly a dice-throwing cup. This would date it to the Graeco-Roman Period. Writing on the base in red crayon gives the provenance of the object as Akhmim. Purchased by Sir Henry Wellcome at auction in 1906 from the collection of Robert de Rustafjaell. Transferred to Swansea on long-term loan as part of the distribution of Wellcome's Egyptian collection.

Other Identity
926 (Boscawen number on rectangular label atop two earlier labels)
Auction
Sotheby, Wilkinson, & Hodge: 19–21 Dec 1906
Previous Owners
Robert de Rustafjaell (1859–1943) | Sir Henry Solomon Wellcome (1853–1936)
Acquisition
Long-term loan, The Wellcome Trust (15 Feb 1971)
Last modified: 08 Oct 2022

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