LOT 0015

Very Tall Egyptian Black-Topped Vase

PREDYNASTIC PERIOD, NAQADA II, CIRCA 3900–3400 B.C.

15 3/4 in. (16 in.) (3.67 kg total, 40 cm (40.5 cm high including stand)).

A finely made, coil-formed Nile silt clay, red-polished pottery vessel with elongated ovoid body, pointed base, rounded shoulder, and narrowing neck widening to a slightly everted rim; the upper section blackened through inverted firing, creating the characteristic black-topped finish of Upper Egyptian Predynastic ceramic production; the surface retaining a lustrous burnish with visible vertical polishing marks; accompanied by a display stand.

with Joe Gerena Fine Arts, New York, USA.
Collection of Erich Spangenberg, Texas, 1980s.
Fortuna Fine Arts Ltd, New York, USA.
Wyvern Collection, acquired from the above on 20 March 2018.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13349-256959.

Cf. Petrie, W.M.F., Corpus of Prehistoric Pottery and Palettes, London, 1917, pl. VI, no. 53a, for the vessel type.

This is an exceptionally large Naqada II black-topped vessel; comparable large examples generally measure approximately 33–37 cm (e.g., Aberdeen Museums ABDMS003532, 36.5 cm; British Museum EA30966, 33.6 cm; National Museum of Ireland 1899:311, 36 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art 36.1.2, 35 cm), although most examples are significantly smaller.
Black-topped vessels were hand-made from finely prepared Nile silt clay, often tempered and coated with a red hematite slip. Larger examples frequently took the form of hes-jars with tapered or pointed bases and narrowing necks and vases with rather more torpedo-like bodies, like this example, while others were made as beakers or wide bowls. Experimental studies suggest that the vessels were fired inverted, with their openings buried in sawdust or other organic material, producing the characteristic blackened rim and interior. After firing, their surfaces were carefully burnished to a high polish, leaving visible polishing marks. These vessels were used mainly in ritual and funerary contexts for the presentation and pouring of liquid offerings. Found chiefly in higher-status burials and cultic deposits, their distinctive red-and-black colour scheme was probably associated with Egyptian concepts of death, regeneration, and cyclical renewal, making them especially appropriate for funerary ceremonies and ritual activities.