Red-Polished Ware Bowl with High Relief Decoration

This bowl is of a ceramic type called Red Polished Ware that is characteristic of the Early Bronze Age in Cyprus (about 2400-1600 B.C.). Scenes modeled in high relief around the vessel’s shoulder illustrate everyday activities. On one side, four schematically rendered men surround a stag and another animal, perhaps a fawn or dog. Enigmatic images interspersed between the men include two examples of a circular ridge enclosing a number of small, conical lumps. These enclosures may relate to tending animals or another male occupation—possibly associated with refining copper ore, an important industry on Cyprus. The distinctly male figures contrast with the seemingly sexless figures on the other side of the bowl, which, because of this disparity, are thought to be female. The female figures are at work processing small lumps of clay in what has been interpreted as a scene of communal bread-making: one figure grinds grain with a mortar and pestle, three appear to be kneading dough, and another stands at an oven.

Early Bronze Age Cyprus, defined by the local Philia culture that originated in Anatolia (present-day western Turkey), saw the introduction of novel technologies and agricultural production, burial practices, and pottery styles. The ubiquitous Red Polished Ware, handmade from mineral-rich clay and named for its ruddy color and lustrous surface, was a hallmark of the local craft tradition. Depictions of quotidian activities are uncommon in Early Bronze Age art, but bread-making is shown on similar funeral vessels from northern Cypriot cemeteries. It is possible that the bowl was used for ceremonial purposes, perhaps during funerary rites.