Alabaster beaker with a truncated conical body, flared at the base and slightly narrowed under the rim. Bactria, 3rd millennium B.C. H: 5,5cm D: 5cm Collection of M. Carbonnel. Jean-Pierre Carbonnel (1937-2002). Knight of the Legion of Honour Eminent scientist, he devoted his career to research in the field of geology and hydrology, in South-East Asia as well as in Africa, in the Middle East and in Eastern Europe. In 1973, he was appointed Director of the permanent scientific mission of the C.N.R.S. in Afghanistan, where he remained until 1979. It was then that he acquired the numerous pieces that constitute his collection of Bactrian objects.