<em>Grain Storage Jar with Blue-Painted Lotus Plants and Floral Collar</em>, ca. 1353–1329 B.C.E. Clay, pigment, 27 9/16 × Diam. 15 5/8 in. (70 × 39.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.245. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.16.245_NegF_print_bw.jpg)

Grain Storage Jar with Blue-Painted Lotus Plants and Floral Collar, ca. 1353–1329 B.C.E. Clay, pigment, 27 9/16 × Diam. 15 5/8 in. (70 × 39.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.245. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.16.245_NegF_print_bw.jpg)

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How would this have been stored so it didn't tip over?

These vessels were placed either in holes in the mud floor of a house or in pot stands of clay or wood. Occasionally representations of these vessels show them simply leaning against a convenient wall.

How come the bottom is round instead of flat?

These vessels would be placed in a ring or in the sand so the rounded bottom would actually make it easier for them to stand upright.

Can these jars stand on surfaces or are they designed to be held somewhere?

These jars were indeed intended to sit on stands that also would have been made of terracotta. They could also be leaned against walls or nestled into the sand.

Pot stands were an important feature of life in ancient Egypt! There is even a hieroglyph that looks like one.

Why was the grain storage jar in the Egyptian exhibit designed in a way that prevents it from standing up straight without support? Were the jars stored on their sides, or maybe upside down? If it was the former, wouldn't they roll? I'd assume you'd display them differently if it was the latter.

They were either placed on stands much like Roman amphora or leaned against a wall or each other. They could also be placed in holes in the mud floor of a house. In terms of storage in the ground it could have been convenient to have a pointed end to help not only create a hole but also stabilized the pot.

That seems a little unstable, right? These stands better be amazing.

I also just found reference that in the case of unglazed pottery which was somewhat porous, if it was being used to store liquid, the stands would catch surplus water that oozed out and prevented dirt from sticking to the moist outer surface of the pot. Plus, the ancient world actually had far fewer hard, level surfaces than our modern one making vessels that had to be nestled actually a more stable option.

Grain Storage Jar with Blue-Painted Lotus Plants and Floral Collar

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Vessels with Blue-Painted Designs

The most innovative pottery of the Eighteenth Dynasty—so-called bluepainted ware—began under Thutmose III.

The pastel pigment was made from groundup blue frit, a mixture of cobalt and alum. Initially, potters relied on blue paint to accentuate small details, such as the grape cluster hanging from a vine on the wine jar in this case. Over time, though, artists began to use blue paint for more complex designs and figures.

MEDIUM Clay, pigment

Place Made: Tell el-Amarna, Egypt

DATES ca. 1353–1329 B.C.E.

DYNASTY Dynasty 18

PERIOD New Kingdom, Amarna Period

DIMENSIONS 27 9/16 × Diam. 15 5/8 in. (70 × 39.7 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 16.245

CREDIT LINE Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Grain Storage Jar with Blue-Painted Lotus Plants and Floral Collar, ca. 1353–1329 B.C.E. Clay, pigment, 27 9/16 × Diam. 15 5/8 in. (70 × 39.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.245. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.16.245_NegF_print_bw.jpg)

IMAGE overall, CUR.16.245_NegF_print_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2013

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