Storage Jar
ca. 1539–1493 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
Storage Jar, ca. 1539–1493 B.C.E.. Clay, pigment, 10 9/16 x Diam. 7 1/2 in. (26.8 x 19 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 07.447.449. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Title
Storage Jar
Date
ca. 1539–1493 B.C.E.
Dynasty
Dynasty 18
Period
New Kingdom
Geography
Place excavated: Esna, Egypt
Medium
Clay, pigment
Classification
Dimensions
10 9/16 x Diam. 7 1/2 in. (26.8 x 19 cm)
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
07.447.449
Frequent Art Questions
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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