LATE NAQADA II, CIRCA 3400-3300 B.C.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN PAINTED POTTERY JAR
Late Naqada II, Circa 3400-3300 B.C.
Ovoid in form, on a flat base, with a rounded everted rim, of pale red fabric with contrasting ochre-painted ornament including eight wavy bands on the shoulders, and groups of serpents interspersed by joined triangles on the body, the serpents in two sets of three and one set of four, each with a round head and long body undulating along the length of the vessel, the triangles in two groups of four and one group of three
12¼ in. (31.1 cm.) high

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, New York, 12 & 13 December 1991, lot 21.

Lot Essay

Egyptian painted pottery in Naqada I depicts a wide variety of themes and subjects. In Naqada II, the painted pottery repertoire becomes relatively limited and repetitive. Towards the end of late Naqada II, there appear to be fewer than a dozen vases known which depict different animals, together with water and mountains, which probably represent the Nile and the adjacent hilly desert skyline. The most famous of the vases of this type depicts a procession of mammals, either otters, aardvarks or, more likely, ichneumons (see no. 3 in Fazzini, et al., Ancient Egyptian Art in the Brooklyn Museum).

The present vase depicts serpents, the Nile and surrounding hills, and is thought by some scholars to represent an early form of pictographic writing.

Subsequent to the appearance of these late Naqada II vases, the ancient Egyptians appear to have ceased painting vases for about 500 years.

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