Black-Figure Vessel for Incense (c.600-400 BCE)
This small black-figure incense vessel opens onto a world in which religion was experienced through smoke, fragrance, and image as much as through words or gesture.
Ceremonial & Religious
Items designed for rituals, religious practices, and special ceremonies from around the globe. This category includes ornate tools, masks, and symbols that highlight the spiritual and communal traditions of various societies.
The Omphalos of Delphi (19th-20th century CE)
This Omphalos stands at the center of the earth, the point where Zeus marked the world’s navel and where Apollo’s oracle gave voice to divine knowledge.
Grave Stele (c. 50 BCE)
This marble grave stele from southern Anatolia stands as an example of Hellenistic funerary art, combining architectural form, figural narrative, inscription, and symbolic imagery into a single, highly sophisticated monument.
Miniature Votive Stupa (435 CE)
This votive stupa carved in steatite and densely inscribed with sacred text and imagery, it encapsulates key aspects of early Chinese Buddhism: devotion, cosmology, and the transmission of religious ideas along the Silk Road.
Horn of Saint Blaise (1100–1200 CE)
This exquisite horn, dating back to the 12th century, showcases intricate carvings that blend cultural influences from across the Mediterranean, inviting us to explore a world of historical fusion where Arab craftsmanship met Christian relic veneration.Â
Portable Altar of Countess Gertrude (c. 1045 CE)
The portable altar was commissioned by Countess Gertrude of Brunswick, a member of the powerful Guelph dynasty, one of the most influential noble families in the medieval Holy Roman Empire.
Arm Reliquary of the Apostles (c. 1190 CE)
Shaped like a clothed human forearm with an outstretched right hand in a gesture of blessing, this reliquary was designed to house a sacred relic—in this case, a portion of an unidentified saint’s arm bone.
Vase with Trophy-Heads (c. 450–600 CE)
The imagery on the vase reflects a key aspect of Nasca religious and social life: the practice of headhunting, which was not random violence but a deeply symbolic act tied to fertility, death, and the renewal of life.
Bidri Basin (c. 1650 CE)
The Bidri Basin, dating to around 1650 from Bidar in Karnataka, southwestern India, stands as a magnificent example of Bidriware, a renowned and distinctive metalcraft tradition from the Deccan region.