C-Ware – elliptical bowl C-0428
By Droux, Xavier
Archaeological site unknown
London, Petrie Museum, UC 15328.
Date : Naqada IA–IIB
General range of C-ware production
Material : Nile silt (Painted)
Preservation : Fragmentary
Decoration preservation : Mostly faded
Preservation information :
Repaired from several fragments; sherd missing at rim; chips at rim.
Decoration
A large crocodile, seen in top view, occupies the bottom of the vessel. Its body is exaggeratedly large and its head small in comparison. Its tail is decorated with a series of dots representing the scales of the hide. Its four flexed legs end with three- and four-toed claws. The crocodile is trapped in a large net of irregular cross-hatched lines that occupies one side of the bowl. Nearer the tail of the crocodile, the net ends with a rope and a loop, by which two human figures stand. It is not clear what the opposite side of the net was like, as a large sherd is missing there. On the other side of the bowl, three hippopotamuses following each other face left. The incisors are almost the only detail that allows an identification of the animals, as the massive and rectangular bodies are very schematic. One has a short tail. A lot of small wavy elements surround the hippopotamuses.
Dimensions (cm)
9.5
30
30
Additional information
Open
Vi 316
Oi 100
Inside
References
1905
Primitive art in Egypt; translated from the revised and augmented original edition. London
, 110, fig. 82.1920
Prehistoric Egypt. British School of Archaeology in Egypt & Egyptian Research Account, twenty-third year, 1917. London
, pl. XVI,63.1921
Corpus of prehistoric pottery and palettes. British School of Archaeology in Egypt & Egyptian Research Account 32, 23rd year, 1917. London
, pl. XX, 5M.1952
Manuel d'archéologie égyptienne I: 1; les époques de formation, la préhistoire. Paris
, 283–284, fig. 191.1989
Das Nilpferd in der Vorstellungswelt der alten Ägypter. Teil I, Katalog. Europäische Hochschulschriften VIII, 22. Frankfurt am Main
, doc. 27h.1998
Peaux d'animaux comme symboles prédynastiques: à propos de quelques représentations sur les vases White Cross-lined. Chronique d'Egypte 73
, 209, n. 12; 210, n. 14.2009
Les peintures sur vases de Nagada I–Nagada II: nouvelle approche sémiologique de l'iconographie prédynastique. Egyptian Prehistory Monographs 6. Leuven
, cat. 25.