Gourd-shaped Jar
ca. 1470–1400 B.C.E.
1 of 2
Object Label
Pottery Manufacture
Available materials, construction technique, and even social status all played a role in the manufacture of pottery.
Most ancient Egyptian towns had at least one skilled potter who served the entire community. Palaces, estates, and temples employed dozens of craftsmen to fashion luxury and ritual wares.
Potters used two principal materials: alluvial silt (soil deposited by the floodwaters of the Nile) and soft desert shale called marl. Silt contains iron oxides and fires red; marl, rich in calcium carbonate, fires to a buff color. To make both clays more workable, potters added straw, crushed stone, or pulverized pottery.
Potters constructed vessels by hand or on a wheel. Hand building involved shaping the clay manually and with simple tools. To create vessels on a wheel, artisans rotated the clay rapidly on a low, flat turntable and let centrifugal force pull it into shape. Spiral marks, evident on several examples in this case, indicate wheel manufacture.
Available materials, construction technique, and even social status all played a role in the manufacture of pottery.
Most ancient Egyptian towns had at least one skilled potter who served the entire community. Palaces, estates, and temples employed dozens of craftsmen to fashion luxury and ritual wares.
Potters used two principal materials: alluvial silt (soil deposited by the floodwaters of the Nile) and soft desert shale called marl. Silt contains iron oxides and fires red; marl, rich in calcium carbonate, fires to a buff color. To make both clays more workable, potters added straw, crushed stone, or pulverized pottery.
Potters constructed vessels by hand or on a wheel. Hand building involved shaping the clay manually and with simple tools. To create vessels on a wheel, artisans rotated the clay rapidly on a low, flat turntable and let centrifugal force pull it into shape. Spiral marks, evident on several examples in this case, indicate wheel manufacture.
Caption
Gourd-shaped Jar, ca. 1470–1400 B.C.E.. Clay, pigment, 14 1/8 x greatest diam. 8 11/16 in. (35.8 x 22.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 09.889.842. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Title
Gourd-shaped Jar
Date
ca. 1470–1400 B.C.E.
Dynasty
Dynasty 18
Period
New Kingdom
Medium
Clay, pigment
Classification
Dimensions
14 1/8 x greatest diam. 8 11/16 in. (35.8 x 22.1 cm)
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
09.889.842
Frequent Art Questions
How would this have been stored so it didn't tip over?
These vessels were placed either in holes in the mud floor of a house or in pot stands of clay or wood. Occasionally representations of these vessels show them simply leaning against a convenient wall.How did these vessels with pointed bottoms stay upright in ancient Egypt?
We get that question often. Vessels like this one may have stood in specially designed racks with openings to hold those pointed bottoms. They also may have been placed in holes dug into earth floors, or simply have been leaned against walls.You'll notice the color blue on many objects in this gallery. For the ancient Egyptians, blue symbolized water, necessary for all forms of life, and especially crucial in a desert climate!Did this jar not have to stand upright?
This jar would have been placed in a hole in the ground or in a pot stand to stand upright. You'll see many of the vessels in those galleries are shaped in the same way!What was inside?Size and shape usually indicates what a vessel was used for. One like this might have held wine or olive oil.Can you explain why so many of the Egyptian storage vessels have rounded bottoms, as opposed to flat ones?
Sure! The rounded bottoms could be stored in several different ways. Many pots like this would be set into stands that would help them to sit on flat ground. In other cases, they could be placed in a hole in a dirt or sand floor, which the more conical bottom would enable! They could also be leant against walls.Great! Thank you!
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