Urfiris Ware Sauceboat Spout Fragment

Early Minoan IIA
ca. 2600 BCE - ca. 2300 BCE

2 1/4 x 2 7/16 x 1/8 in. (5.7 x 6.2 x 0.3 cm)

This object has the following keywords:

• bowls - Rounded, cuplike, hollow parts of objects, such as the body of a stemmed vessel or the part of a pipe in which tobacco is burned.
• bowls - Rounded vessels that are generally wider than they are high, usually hemispherical or nearly so. A bowl may have a spreading base or foot ring and sometimes two handles or a cover. Distinguished from a cup, which is rather deep than wide.
• Early Minoan - Refers to the earliest phase of Minoan art and culture, according to the classification system devised by the archaeologist, Arthur Evans. It is characterized by the introduction of metal from Asia Minor, distinctive sculpture, and pottery, including hand-made clay pots decorated with incised geometric patterns and others that are apparently inspired by Egyptian pieces of the First to Fourth Dynasties. It overlaps with the Prepalatial period in the alternate classification scheme of Nikolas Platon.
• Urfirnis - Refers to a style of Early Helladic pottery that developed from around 2,500 BCE to around 2,000 BCE. It is characterized by being hand-made and not thrown on a wheel, and by a finish of semi-lustrous paint rather than burnished slip, with a variegated appearance that ranges from reddish to brownish to black.
• vessels - Containers designed to serve as receptacles for a liquid or other substance, usually those of circular section and made of some durable material; especially containers of this nature in domestic use, employed in connection with the preparation or serving of food or drink, and usually of a size suitable for carrying by hand.