2nd-1st century BC. A piriform ceramic vessel with flared rim with branches of leaves; to the body an elaborate frieze of standing gods and goddesses in various poses, each god or goddess depicted half naked, dressed in rich jewellery; a circumferential band of rosettes below; the lower half densely covered in an elaborate frieze of elephants within a forest, with multi-layered rosette halves in between the trees; a hatched band below; supplied with a custom-made display stand. See The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 2002.266, for similar, and accession number 2004.553.2, for ivory plaque with similar iconography.802 grams total, 24cm including stand (9 1/2"). Property of a West London gentleman; from a private collection since 1989.