Faience is a lovely thing – a type of non-clay ceramic composed mostly of silica, it could be fired with this appealing turquoise glaze and was a specialty of Egyptian artisans used widely for thousands of years there.
This vase is Greek in shape (it’s an oinochoe, the spout of which is missing) and of a special Ptolemaic class (often referred to as a “Queen’s Vase”) showing the Ptolemaic queen Berenike II (recognisable by her alarming bug eyes and inscription) decked out with veil and cornucopia and pouring a libation to herself and her royal husband.
It’s a wonderful (typical) use of entrenched Egyptian craft and cultic practices harnessed for new Ptolemaic purposes. And with the self-referentiality and grandiosity that takes a true queen to pull off…
