A MUSEUM QUALITY ETRUSCAN OSSUARY 9057. A VERY RARE ETRUSCAN OSSUARY. c. 2nd century BC. The heavy fabric, hard fired terra cotta ossuary (bone box or sarcophagus) with the figure of the deceased reclining on top, four figures in molded relief on the front, the surface with original white pigment.9.5 x 16 x 18.25 inches. Corner of lid reattached otherwise intact and in excellent condition. The scene on the front represents the duel between the ill fated brothers Eteocles and Polynices. Eteocles and Polynices were the sons of Oedipus and Jocasta. After their father's death it was agreed among them that they should share the kingdom and reign in alternate years. However after Eteocles had finished his year he refused to give up his kingship. This resulted in the Theban war (The Seven Against Thebes), 27 years before the Trojan war, wherein the brothers finally met and slew each other in single combat, egged on by their respective gods. Complete Etruscan ossuari are excessively rare and normally found only in the finest museum collections. Cf. 'Etruscan Life and Afterlife', ed. Larissa Bonafonte. p. 119, IV-34 for a very similar piece with the same scene in the Liverpool National Museum and Art Gallery. Provenance: The Paul Suttman collection. Acquired by Suttman in the 1960's when he lived in Italy as a fellow of the American Academy of Rome. Three time recipient of the prestigious Prix de Rome, Paul Suttman (1933-1993) was an internationally known American sculptor who produced many impressionistic figurative works in bronze. Mr. Suttman's work is represented in the Museum of Modern Art, the Morgan Library, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington. More information on Suttman can be found at NY times obituary. Acquired by the current owner from the Suttman estate in the 1990's. $35,000.