Glossary Pottery and vessels
Ring base
Also called: ring-base
A low ring of clay on the underside of a vessel on which it stands, in place of a flat, rounded or pointed base.
A ring base lifts a pot slightly off the surface and gives a rounded body a stable footing. It can be modelled from the wall or added as a separate coil, and on wheelmade pots it is often trimmed from the thick clay of the base.
Base Ring ware takes its name from the ring bases that are a regular feature of its jugs and bowls. Late Bronze Age Plain White kraters and ribbed Bucchero jugs also have them. Earlier Cypriot pottery more often stood on flat, rounded or pointed bases, so a ring base is one of the features that helps to date a pot to the Late Bronze Age or later.
Related terms
- Carination
A sharp angle in the profile of a vessel where the wall changes direction, as in a bowl or cup with a distinct shoulder.
- Bucchero ware
A Late Cypriot ware of jugs whose bodies are covered in close vertical ribs or grooves, made in handmade and wheelmade versions.