The
simplicity of the design of one of the Petrie Museum's hippopotamus bowls
is deceptive. The composition and execution, though minimalist, capture the
scale and physical presence of the hippopotamus, its impressive monumentality
and its importance to the people of the early Predynastic period of Upper Egypt.
The hippopotamus
was a recurring theme in Naqada I pottery, part of an explosion of creativity
and expression in decorative crafts at a time when the people living in various settlements
along the Nile were beginning to define themselves as hierarchical
societies. As new funerary traditions evolved, painted ceramics,
beautifully shaped palettes, animal-headed combs and pins, beads and items of jewellery could accompany the dead into the afterlife
The hippopotamus
bowl, UC15337, flares from a tiny base to an open mouth, 15cms diameter at its widest. Made of Nile clay it is typical of Petrie's
White Cross-Lined style, the white basket-like linear designs forming motifs
painted onto on a deep red background.
Four white-painted hippos follow each other, snout to tail, around the red inner surface of the bowl. A treble-zigzag design decorates the rim, and beneath the feet of the hippos are two concentric rings, perhaps representing a pool, which define the vessel’s base. There are many examples of this theme, all slightly different. Hippopotami, although vast, aggressive and dangerous, were used for meat and ivory, and were almost as much forces of nature as the Nile itself. This bowl shows heavily stylized, almost geometrically rendered animals, highlighting the solidity of their core shapes whilst, at the same time, conveying the vitality of the natural world.
Four white-painted hippos follow each other, snout to tail, around the red inner surface of the bowl. A treble-zigzag design decorates the rim, and beneath the feet of the hippos are two concentric rings, perhaps representing a pool, which define the vessel’s base. There are many examples of this theme, all slightly different. Hippopotami, although vast, aggressive and dangerous, were used for meat and ivory, and were almost as much forces of nature as the Nile itself. This bowl shows heavily stylized, almost geometrically rendered animals, highlighting the solidity of their core shapes whilst, at the same time, conveying the vitality of the natural world.
Although simple,
the bowl is impressive, drawing the viewer into a past so distant that it can
only be imagined through the artefacts that survive, each of which breathes
life into the time before the Pharaohs.
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