AN EGYPTIAN ALABASTER VESSEL Middle Kingdom, 11th - 13th Dynasty, Circa 2040 - 1648 B.C. The slim piriform body tapers down to a flared footed base, with a raised band running around the vessel just above its narrowest point, the slightly curved mouth curves in slightly with a simply rounded edge as this vessel would originally have had a separately carved rim, 15.2cm high, Literature: For a vase of similar form but without the band see Sir W. M. Flinders Petrie, 'The Funeral Furniture of Egypt. Stone and Metal Vases', reprinted Warminster, 1977, plate XXIX, no. 644.   Provenance: Private UK collection, acquired between 1920 and 1970.