RARE EGYPTIAN BLACK STONE RITUAL MORTAR. Middle Kingdom, Ca. 2055 - 1790 BC. A marvellous carved black stone ritual mortar of relatively cylindric form with high walls. The deep basin was perhaps able to hold ample amounts of material, from food and medicinal ingredients to substances pulverised into colourful pigments. On the external surface, in high relief, two standing figures, probably priests, represented frontally with a long skirt covering the lower part of the body and with the other naked and wearing a long wig alternating to vertical lines of hieroglyphic inscription. For similar see: Change and Innovation in Middle Kingdom Art. Proceedings of the MeKeTRE Study Day held at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (3rd May 2013), Middle Kingdom Studies 4, London, 2016, Fig. 45-49. Size: 240mm x 210mm; Weight: 18.29kg Provenance: Prince collection, 1990s-2014; Ex. Nagel Auktionen, Sale 50T, 27 May, 2008, Lot 3401. This item has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database and comes with a confirmation letter.