Black-Topped Red Ware Bowl

Place of OriginEgypt; made in Upper Egypt

DatePredynastic Period (4500-3100 BCE)

DimensionsH 6 1/8 in. (15.6 cm); Rim Diam 6 1/8 in. (15.6 cm).

MediumEarthenware (Nile silt clay)

ClassificationCeramics

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1917.744

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

DescriptionA deep, hand-built earthenware bowl with a rounded base and slightly incurved rim. The vessel exhibits a distinctive bi-chrome surface treatment: the body is a burnished deep red, transitioning to a lustrous black band at the rim and upper interior. The surface shows visible tool marks from the burnishing process. There is a vertical crack running from the rim down the body.

Label TextThis bowl predates the Great Pyramids by nearly a thousand years. It is a classic example of "Black-topped red ware," the signature pottery of Predynastic Egypt. Created before the invention of the potter's wheel, it was built by hand using coils of Nile clay. The striking two-color effect was achieved during firing: the potter buried the rim in sand or organic material (like chaff) to cut off oxygen, turning the clay black, while the rest of the body oxidized to a rich red. Such vessels were often placed in graves to hold food or cosmetics for the afterlife.