The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Black-Topped Beaker

4500–3000 BCE

Egypt, Predynastic

(5000–2950 BCE), Naqada I–IIb (3900–3300 BCE)
Nile silt pottery
Diameter: 12 cm (4 3/4 in.); Overall: 14 cm (5 1/2 in.)
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1920.2005
Location: 107 Egyptian

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.
  • Purchased from Moham-med Mohasseb, Luxor, through Howard Carter
  • Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač. Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999 Reproduced: p. 105; Mentioned: p. 105
  • {{cite web|title=Black-Topped Beaker|url=false|author=|year=4500–3000 BCE|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1920.2005