Large conical jar


Accession Number
EC276
Current Location
House of Life (first floor), Pottery case
Object Type
Receptacle/vessel, Jar
Classification
Black-topped ware 27f
Period
Predynastic Period
Naqada I to Naqada II
Material
Pottery
Provenance
Egypt, Naqada
Measurements
Height: 229mm | Diameter: 112mm | Rim diameter: 112mm | Base diameter: 360mm | Height of maximum diameter: 229mm | Vessel index: 49
Number of Elements
1
Culture
Egyptian

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Description

A black-topped redware pottery vessel. The auction catalogue of MacGregor's items of 6th July 1922, lot 1745 states 'Six vases all of archaic period and found at Neqadeh and Zawaideh, chiefly from Professor Petrie's excavations'. There is a number, '759' written in black ink on the vessel. This may be the excavation number. Such vessels date to the Predynastic Naqada I-II period (4000-3100 BCE). Black-topped redware is a fine red pottery with blackened rim. How such vessels were decorated has been much debated. Sequence date 34-46

Munsell Chart reading

Base: 10Y 4/6 red | Rim: GLEY 1 2.5 black

Bibliography

Hendrickx, Stan, Renée Friedman, and Fabienne Loyens 2000. Experimental archaeology concerning black-topped pottery from ancient Egypt and the Sudan. Cahiers de la céramique égyptienne 6, 171–187. Smythe, Jane 2005. Moments in mud. Nekhen News 17, 21–23.

Wellcome Number
A13488
Other Identity
4027 (written in black ink near base of vessel) | 840 (unidentified number) | (759, or 7/59 is written in ink on the side of the vessel)
Auction
Sotheby, Wilkinson, & Hodge: 26 Jun–06 Jul 1922, Lot 1745
Previous Owners
Rev. William MacGregor (1848–1937) | Sir Henry Solomon Wellcome (1853–1936)
Acquisition
Long-term loan, The Wellcome Trust (15 Feb 1971)
Last modified: 16 Feb 2022
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