Egyptian Predynastic Naqada II Schist Bowl

Egypt, Predynastic Period, Naqada II culture, ca. 3300 to 3100 BCE. A pretty hand-carved schist stone bowl of a petite size that exemplifies the early achievements of ancient Egyptian lapidary artisans. The bowl rests on a flat base and the walls flare up and outward to a gently flared rim that surrounds the deep basin. The interior is conically hollowed and exhibits the encircling grooves from the drill tools used to shape this piece. The schist stone is of an attractive, mottled gray-green hue with black and beige inclusions, and the exterior has areas that are remarkably smooth to the touch, especially for its age! Size: 2.75" Diameter x 1.75" H (7 cm x 4.4 cm)

This simple bowl represents a technological leap forward for the ancient Egyptians. In the early Pre-Dynastic period, artisans hollowed out hard stone vessels using hand-held stone borers and abrasive desert sand. Then, during the Naqada II period (ca. 3600 to 3200 BCE), the invention of copper tubes used to drill very hard stones (in conjunction with sand as an abrasive), allowed people to drill finer forms. However, copper drills only allowed artisans to drill cylindrical items, and so the hollowing out of vessels with shoulders still required use of an elongated stone borer in the form of a figure-eight to get under the shoulder. That being said, Imagine the hours of work that went into making this petite bowl!

Provenance: private New York Collection; ex-private collection, acquired in the 1960s and imported to the United States in the late 1980s

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#164983
Condition Report: Surface abrasions and scratches as expected with age. Nicks and chips to rim and base, otherwise intact! Old inventory label on base. Large areas of mineral deposits and earthen encrustations on interior and exterior.