C-Ware – elliptical bowl C-0556
By Droux, Xavier
Archaeological site unknown.
1935 : Gift Ms Lythgoe.New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, MMA 35.10.
Date : Naqada IA–IIB
General range of C-ware production
Material : Nile silt (Painted)
Preservation : Fragmentary
Decoration preservation : Partially faded
Preservation information :
A large sherd is missing, encompassing an entire narrow end of the bowl.
Decoration
A large crocodile occupies the centre of the bowl. It is seen in top view, its head is lozenge-shaped, and its four legs, of which only the front ones are preserved, are flexed and end with toed claws. Its body is decorated with oblique crosshatched bands. Next to the crocodile, an elongated shape with internal oblique crosshatched bands and with a curled end probably represents a fishing net. Forked elements placed near its extremities may represent a device used to keep the net in place. On the other side of the vessel, a man harpoons a hippopotamus in the muzzle. Details of its ears and eyes are painted on its head and its body if filled in. The man is partly overlaid by a partly preserved motif that can probably be interpreted as a boat – Behrmann’s idea that it is a second crocodile should be discarded. The rest of the decoration consists of plants and zigzag motifs.
Dimensions (cm)
6.3
27.2
19.9
27.2
Additional information
Open
Vi 432
Oi 100
round base
Inside
References
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