Technical Observations: The patina is dark brown with a few light green mottled areas. Some rusty brown is present around the bottom of the bowl. The striations and other rough texturing of the surface, especially the interior of the bowl, appear to be the result of forceful manual cleaning and perhaps some chemical stripping. Two cracks run across the rim and into the body of the bowl, and another crack runs across the spout. An oval feature with a rough, radiating, crystalline structure and slightly raised rim is located in the bowl asymmetrically across from the spout. The dimensions of the feature vary slightly from the interior to the exterior surfaces.
The object was cast in one piece. The raised nub with the indentation in the center of the bowl appears to be connected to raising, although its original function is unclear. The irregular protrusions from the rim are the remains of more elaborate decorative elements, as can be seen from the asymmetrical shapes and rough texture of their broken edges. The slightly beveled edges on the underside of these protruding elements appear to be as cast without additional refinement. It is not clear how the five irregularly spaced circular depressions (all c. 2.4 to 2.8 mm in diameter) on the top of the rim were formed.
Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2012)
