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Clay cup: E.GA.4676.1943

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An image of Cup
An image of Cup
Current Location: Gallery 24

Titles

Clay cup

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Description

Clay bowl or drinking cup. Handmade with impressed and incised decoration, filled with white pigment.

Clay bowl or drinking cup. Handmade, smoothed with fingers on the inside and burnished (rubbed with a hard object) on the outside. On the rim is a doible row of impressed triangles and below this is an incised lattice design of diamond shapes, which are alternately plain and filled with impressed dots. The incised lines were originally filled with a white pigment. The clay is Nile silt and the dark interior colour is typical of Nubian pottery. This type of pottery is known as C-group which indicates that it was made in Nubia (southern Egypt/modern Sudan) and is of a second millenium date. The pot is complete and has no breaks. The base is rounded and it is unable to stand unaided. the vessel was made in Nubia but probably then transported to Egypt, where it was probably buried in a grave (hence its perfect condition). The exact find-spot is unknown.

Measurements and weight

Diameter: 12.8 cm
Height: 9.4 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1943) by Gayer-Anderson, R. G. (Major)

Dating

Early C-Group
Circa -1976 BCE - -1648 BCE

Materials used in production

Ceramic

Techniques used in production

Burnished
Handmade

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: E.GA.4676.1943
Primary reference Number: 59125
Oldadmincategory: P

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Friday 18 July 2025

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Antiquities

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Clay cup" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/59125 Accessed: 2025-12-05 08:47:53

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/59125 |title=Clay cup |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 08:47:53|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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