Jar with Tubular Handles
ca. 3500–3100 B.C.E.
1 of 5
Object Label
Masterpieces of Stone Carving
During the Predynastic Period, Egyptians mastered the working of even the hardest stone.
They especially favored attractively colored stones, like the porphyry, breccia, and obsidian shown here. To create the mace head (war club) and jar in this case, an artisan laboriously ground and polished the stones with increasingly fine abrasives. A method called flaking—carefully applying pressure with another stone—produced the serrated obsidian object.
During the Predynastic Period, Egyptians mastered the working of even the hardest stone.
They especially favored attractively colored stones, like the porphyry, breccia, and obsidian shown here. To create the mace head (war club) and jar in this case, an artisan laboriously ground and polished the stones with increasingly fine abrasives. A method called flaking—carefully applying pressure with another stone—produced the serrated obsidian object.
Caption
Jar with Tubular Handles, ca. 3500–3100 B.C.E.. Breccia, 5 1/2 x greatest diam. 7 5/16 in. (14 x 18.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 35.1314. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Frequent Art Questions
Can you help me understand how this was made?
Carving stone was a very slow and laborious process that involved using sand as an abrasive to wear down the stone. To carve out the interior of this vessel, a hole would first be drilled and then more of stone rubbed away with abrasives.
Have information?
Have information about an artwork? Contact us at