Cypriot Red-on-Black Earthenware Amphora
Middle Cypriot III (1700-1600 BC). Height 13.5cm. Diameter 10.7cm
An amphora with a flat base and a sack-shaped oval body. It has two vertical string-hole projections on the shoulder and a rather short neck that widens toward a splaying rim. Two additional string-holes are set just below the rim. Made of hard clay ranging from grey to pinkish in colour, and decorated with lustrous black paint combined with red details. Four vertical bands, each made up of eight lines, run from the base to the neck and cross over the base. horizontal bands of eight lines encircle the shoulder and continue around the neck. The rim is decorated with transverse strokes..
The amphora was excavated by the Swedish Cyprus Expedition in 1929 at Paleoskoutella, from the floor of Tumulus 7. It has been part of the collection of the Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm, Sweden (Inv. No.: P. 007:039) since 1931.