The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Black-Topped Beaker

Black-Topped Beaker

c. 4000–3500 BCE
(5000–2950 BCE), Naqada I–IIb (3900–3300 BCE)
Diameter: 12.4 cm (4 7/8 in.); Overall: 29.1 cm (11 7/16 in.)
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
  • Finkenstaedt, Elizabeth. "Prehistoric Egyptian Pottery." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 3 (1988). p.75 www.jstor.org
    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. 104; Mentioned: p. 104-105
  • {{cite web|title=Black-Topped Beaker|url=false|author=|year=c. 4000–3500 BCE|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1920.1980