Ancient Egypt, Predynastic Period, Naqada II, ca. 3650 to 3300 BCE. A lovely pottery vessel with a highly-burnished, russet-hued surface made with a thin iron-oxide slip. The coil-formed Nile silt vessel has a short ovoid body with a miniscule base, bulbous walls which gradually taper to a thin rim, and a deep interior cavity. The black-hued area surrounding the rim is comprised of thick carbon deposits formed by subjecting the top to dense clouds of smoke for extended periods of time in an oxygen-deprived environment. Black-top vessels originally rose to popularity during the early Naqada I, a culture which inhabited ancient Egypt during its predynastic period. The Naqada were first described by famed archaeologist William Flinders Petrie; however, relatively little is known about them except that they were focused around the site of El-Amra in central Egypt, west of the Nile river. Lucite display stand for photography purposes only. Size: 3.2" W x 4.75" H (8.1 cm x 12.1 cm).

Pre-Dynastic Egyptian black-top vessels were traditionally made from silt deposits taken from the Nile river due to their abundance in iron and silica. After the pot had dried but before it was fired, it would first be burnished and rubbed smooth with a small stone to create the pinstripe vertical striations still visible today. An iron-rich slip would then be applied just before firing; when placed in an oxygen-rich environment, the elevated temperatures would create the vessel’s signature red-orange hue.

After the end of the Naqada III period around 3,000 BCE, the use of Nile silt in pottery creations fell out of favor with the Pre-Dynastic Egyptians. This is due to the increase in popularity of marl clay, a newly-discovered material for creating terracotta objects which was easier to shape and enabled firing at far greater temperatures than the highly-porous silt.

For a larger, stylistically-similar example, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 36.1.4: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/547291

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-Royal-Athena Galleries, New York, New York, USA; ex-private Gieringer collection, sold at Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, USA (January 28-29, 1959, lot 91), acquired by Dr. Richard LeBaron Bowen, Jr., Providence, Rhode Island, USA (1919-2013), thence by descent

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#139001

Surface wear and abrasions commensurate with age, minor nicks to rim, body, and base, a few stable pressure fissures stemming downward from rim, some fading to pigmentation, and light encrustations, otherwise intact and very good. Nice earthen deposits throughout. Old inventory numbers written in black ink on body exterior.