Terracotta biconical spindle-whorl - image 1

Middle Bronze Age II

Terracotta biconical spindle-whorl

Spindle whorls aided in the making of cloth for garments and bedding. They were placed in tombs, perhaps so that the deceased could continue to spin wool in the afterlife. H. 1 5/16 in. (3.4 cm)

Date

1900 - 1600 BC

Accession No.

74.51.939

Collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance

  • From Cyprus

References

  • Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 139, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Karageorghis, Vassos, Gloria Merker, and Joan R. Mertens. 2016. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art : Terracottas. no. 49, pp. 34-35, 253, Online Publication, [CD-Rom 2004], New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.