Ewer in the shape of a bronze ho

Ewer in the shape of a bronze ho.

Wheel-thrown body of squat spherical form. Small mouth with short upright rim (broken in one place, piece missing). Flat base trimmed concentrically; short straight crack in center. Trimming on lower wall up to shoulder, ending at same place as upper edge of decorative bands (see below).

Animal-head spout, molded and applied over opening roughly cut into body. On opposite side of vessel, on a level with spout, hand-formedd and applied vertical lug with circular hole and impressed detail on edge. Bail handle, molded and applied with ends on shoulder above spout and lug; two upright flanges with impressed fluting; outside flange at end near spout, two small conical clay pieces hand-formed and applied side by side; on opposite end outside flange near lug, hand-formed and applied vertical ridge of clay ending in a spiral with impressed fluting.

Three molded animal feet applied to lower edge of body just above base; one aligned with lug, two placed near spout but not equidistant from it.

Wheel-thrown lid shaped as flat, straight-sided dish. Semi-circular handle applied in center of top of lid.

Clay: dense, fine stoneware; medium brown, somewhat reddish where exposed on bottoms of feet and underside of lid.

Glaze: pale yellow-green applied ash glaze originally covering most of vessel, now mostly lost except for areas where coating was heavier on shoulder and top of lid.

Decoration: vessel decorated between shoulder and mid-point of body. Three narrow incised bands, accentuated by trimming, with irregular diagonal hatching (in one place, cross-hatching) define two broad bands of equal width filled by three tiers each of stamped “S”-shaped spiral whorls. The lid has a circle incised around the handle; the entire top surface is filled by irregular concentric rows of stamped “S” shapes.