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Materials & Wares
Ceramics: Early Cypriot |
 1995.10.302, 478 |
Red Polished Ware dominated the island's ceramic assemblage for a thousand years, from the close of the Chalcolithic to the end of the Middle Cypriot period. Initially, it was a monochrome red burnished color, thus the name. Later, differences in firing, either accidental or deliberate, produced mottled red-and-black to completely black varieties. It was made in a wide range of shapes, from bottles with phallic spouts and small straight-sided bowls to large storage jars, making it one of the most imaginative pottery types to be found in the ancient world; a tribute to the creativity and skill of the Cypriot potters. In the earlier periods, it was often decorated with white lime-filled incisions, as seen on the left, and applied decoration, as seen on the right; by the end of the Early Cypriot and subsequently decoration might consist of filled punctures or combed linear motifs. | ||
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Last Modified: 11/15/99