Apr 16, 2007
Apr 16, 2007

Black-Topped Beaker

Black-Topped Beaker

c. 4000–3500 BC

Nile silt pottery

Diameter: 12.4 cm (4 7/8 in.); Overall: 29.1 cm (11 7/16 in.)

Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1920.1980

Location

Description

Red polished vessels with black rims (known as black-topped red ware or B-ware) were the most common funerary pottery during the early Predynastic Period. The characteristic blackening of the rim was probably achieved by burying the mouth of the pot in the ashes of the kiln. The iron in the exposed part would then fire red while the covered area turned black.

See also

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