The black, painted decoration is under the glaze and consists of a band of linear motifs around the shoulder with crosses in the open spaces, above which are three arches containing a row of dots. A stylised lotus flower runs along the upper edge of each handle. The round body has a ring base, flaring spout, and twin handles astride a false neck. Mould-made in a vivid electric-blue faience, the mould perhaps joining at the widest point of the diameter. Intact. One of the finest-known extant examples.
This is an imitation of the terracotta Mycenaean stirrup jars which were imported into Egypt in vast quantities c.1400-1200 BC. The Egyptians copied this well-known form in terracotta but also, as items of luxury, in faience and occasionally alabaster. Stirrup jars held unguents or liquids; the form allowed controlled flow of the precious contents by holding the handles with the second and third fingers, and placing the thumb over the spout.
Faience is a glazed ceramic material, invented during the Predynastic period, sometime in the mid-4th millennium BC. It is made up of 90% silica, 5% lime and 5% alkali (either natron or plant ash). The variations in colour are brought about by the addition of a colourant, usually copper based, creating a bright-blue tone. The dry ingredients are mixed with water to form a paste, and then moulded into shape. As the paste dries the alkaline salts rise to the surface, and upon firing they form the glaze. It is well acknowledged that faience from the New Kingdom has a higher level of quality and craftsmanship than that created during the other periods of Egyptian history. It was during the New Kingdom that they began to push the boundaries of what was possible with this vibrant material.