Glossary Pottery and vessels
Basin
Also called: tray, trough
A broad, open vessel with a wide mouth and low sides, used for washing, mixing and carrying food or liquids.
Basins and trays are wide, shallow containers, usually much broader than they are tall. They are among the plainest household shapes, serving for washing, kneading dough, holding water and presenting food. Cypriot examples run from handmade Bronze Age vessels in Red Polished ware to wheelmade basins of the Iron Age, and the shape was also made in bronze, where a washing basin is called a laver.
Troughs and long rectangular trays belong to the same family. In a catalogue the line between a basin and a large bowl is a matter of proportion rather than a fixed rule, so records often use the two words for similar pots. See all basins and trays in the catalogue.
Related terms
- Open and closed shapes
The basic division of vessel forms: open shapes have a mouth as wide as the body, closed shapes narrow to a neck or small opening.
- Lug
A small knob or tab of clay on the wall or rim of a vessel, used for gripping, for tying on a cover or, when pierced, for hanging.