Glossary Pottery and vessels
Cutaway spout
Also called: cutaway neck, beak spout
A jug mouth whose neck is cut away at a slant at the front, rising to a point like a beak, so that liquid pours from the tip.
The cutaway, or beak, spout is formed by slicing the top of the neck obliquely, leaving the back high and the front low and pointed. It is one of the signature features of the Cypriot Bronze Age jug.
Most Red Polished jugs have cutaway spouts, and the shape runs on into Middle Cypriot White Painted. The last load left in one of the firing structures at the Ambelikou pottery workshop was 39 cutaway-mouthed jugs, and heavy dippers with cutaway spouts were used for drawing liquid from larger jars.
Related terms
- Trefoil mouth
A jug mouth pinched in from the sides into three lobes, like a clover leaf, making a channel for pouring.
- Tubular spout
A narrow tube of clay attached to the body or rim of a vessel for pouring, set apart from the vessel's main opening.