A LARGE BACTRIAN LIMESTONE JAR, CIRCA LATE 3RD TO EARLY 2ND MILLENNIUM BCPublished: Massimo Vidale, Treasures from the Oxus. The Art and Civilization of Central Asia, London/New York, 2017, fig. 53, p. 62 (dated to the third millennium BC).Oxus Civilization. The tall and massive vessel of ovoid form, well hollowed, supported on a rounded base and rising to a broad mouth, the interior with neatly incised concentric lines encircling a small protrusion at the center of the base.Provenance: Axel Vervoordt Art & Antiques, Antwerp, Belgium, 2003. Paolo Bertuzzi, acquired from the above. A copy of the original invoice from Alex Vervoordt, dated 4 April 2003, addressed to Paolo Bertuzzi, dating the present lot to the second millennium BC, and listing a purchase price of EUR 8,400 or approx.EUR 12,600 (adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), apanies this lot. Axel Vervoordt (born 1947) is a Belgian antiques and art dealer, collector, and interior designer. He founded hispany in Antwerp in 1969, and in 1998, he and his family acquired an industrial site which they turned into a small green town that offers spaces for art and exhibits works by renowned artists such as Anish Kapoor, James Turrell, Marina Abramovic, Otto Boll, and Tatsuo Miyajima. Vervoordt further designed several spaces for, among others, Robert de Niro, Kim Kardashian, and Kanye West. Paolo Bertuzzi (1943-2022) was a fashion stylist from Bologna, Italy. He was the son of Enrichetta Bertuzzi, founder of Hettabretz, a noted Italian fashionpany with customers such as the Rothschild family, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. Paolo Bertuzzi later took over his mother’s business and designed exclusive pieces, some of which were exhibited in the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, USA. He was also an avid collector of antiques for more than 60 years. His collection includes both archaic and contemporary art, and he edited two important books about Asian art, Goa Made - An Archaeological Discovery, about a large-scale archaeological project carried out with the Italian and Indonesian governments, and Majapahit, Masterpieces from a Forgotten Kingdom.Condition: Excellent condition,mensurate with age. Extensive wear, signs of weathering and erosion, minor chips, structural cracks, small losses, minuscule nicks, light scratches, expected old fills and repairs, and encrustations.Weight: 3,936 gDimensions: Height 29 cmThe Oxus Civilization or Bactria–Margiana Archaeologicalplex (BMAC), recently dated to c. 2250-1700 BC, is the modern archaeological designation for a Bronze Age civilization of Central Asia, previously dated to c. 2400-1900 BC, by Sandro Salvatori, in its urban phase or integration era. Though it may be called the "Oxus civilization", apparently centered on the upper Amu Darya (Oxus River) in Bactria, most of the BMAC's urban sites are actually located in Margiana (modern Turkmenista