Vessel decorated with ships and birds

 

Vessel decorated with ships and birds

The vessel has a slender barrel shape with a flat bottom and a moulded rim. It is made of a light-coloured clay. Two cylinder handles for suspending ropes are attached to the shoulder. The walls of the vessel have been sectioned by the reddish brown painted decoration. In the bottom half, a row of flamingos is represented on top of a series of triangles. Between the cylinder handles are images of ships complete with their oars, cabins, and standards. Their prows are decorated with a stylized structure made of reeds. These figurative drawings with their regulating divisions and series of motifs were of great importance for the development of Egyptian two-dimensional art. The small size of this jar suggests that it was intended for the storage of precious liquids placed in the tomb for use by the deceased in his otherworldly existence.

KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM

Inventory number 7469

KUBANIYA

NAQADA II

Junker, H., Bericht über die Grabungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien auf den Fiedhöfen von El-Kubanieh-Süd, Winter 1910-11, Akademie der Wissenschaften Wien, phil-hist. Kl., Denkschr. 62 (1919) 52, Abb. 15, Typ VII, 53, Abb. 19.

Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM). Führer durch die Sammlungen. Wien. 1988, 49.

Seipel, W. (ed.), Götter Menschen Pharaonen, Speyer (1993) = Dioses, Hombres, Faraones, Ciudad de México (1993) = Das Vermächtnis der Pharaonen, Zürich (1994), Nr. 3.

http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=5477