A group of three black-topped pottery vessels of varied size; the larger ovoid jar with everted rim, the smaller neckless vessels with slightly thickened rims; provided with a custom-made display stand and carry case. [3]

PROVENANCE:
Ex London gallery; deaccessioned from the Wakefield Museum, West Yorkshire, UK, in the mid 1980s; accompanied by an academic report by Dr Alberto Maria Pollastrini; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10995-181550.

LITERATURE:
See Sowada, K.S., Black-Topped Ware in Early Dynastic Contexts, in Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, vol.85, 1999; Adams, B., Predynastic Egypt, Shire Egyptology 7, Princes Risborough, 1988; Petrie, W.M.F., Naqada and Ballas, London, 1895; Petrie, W.M.F., Corpus of Prehistoric Pottery and Palettes, London, 1921; Wodzinska, A., A Manual of Egyptian Pottery. Volume 1: Fayum A – Lower Egyptian Culture, Boston, 2010.

FOOTNOTES:
The three vessels belong to B class according to Petrie’s classification of Predynastic material (Petrie, 1896, 36-37; Petrie, 1921, pl. I-VIII). This pottery type is generally made from Nile silt with organic and non-organic inclusions, with a polished red surface and a distinctive blackened area below the rim, the precise nature of which is still under debate. It was probably produced by placing the vessels upside down in reducing
organic material immediately after firing (Adam, 1988, p. 20; Sowada, 1999, pp. 85-86). The 'black-topped' ware was the most common funerary pottery during Naqada I and Naqada II periods, with a small volume of production in the Naqada III, Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom periods. The taller vessel dates to the Naqada IIC-D periods (Wodzinska, 2010, p.135). The smaller ones probably date back to the Naqada I period (Wodzinska, 2010, p.101-118).