Curved body fragment of a thin walled hemispherical bowl (Ephesus excavation inventory ART 88 K 1.1); the central boss (omphalos) and the straight rim are not preserved. Bichrome decoration painted in dark chocolate brown and reddish brown on a thick, creamy white slip of extraordinary smoothness reminding one of the quality of porcelain. Both the inside and the outside are decorated with large volutes fringed by stripes with fine dots. Confronted volutes are connected by fine lines framing cross-hatched rectangles or trapezoids. On the interior, the connection of volutes is crowned by palmettes with round leaves, on the exterior, we find instead a sequence of small, simplified lotus buds and flowers. On the exterior, too, a small remnant of a framing band below is preserved, consisting of two narrow lines framing a series of spaced squares, one of which, at least, was filled with a criss-cross left blank in a solid quadrangle. Both potting and painting of this omphalos bowl show a unique skill and a remarkable rigor, so that No. 116 ranges among the best examples known of “Ephesian Ware.” Maximum preserved height 3.7 cm, maximum preserved width 5.9 cm, thickness of the wall 0.35 cm.
