Glossary Pottery and vessels
String-hole
Also called: stringhole
A small hole pierced through a lug, rim or projection on a pot so it could be hung up or have a cover tied on with a cord.
String-holes are made in the soft clay before firing, usually in pairs so that a cord could pass across the mouth of a vessel or loop through for hanging. Wear around the hole sometimes shows that a pot was actually used this way.
They occur on Red Polished bowls, jugs and animal vessels and on handmade Plain White pots, and Middle Cypriot Red Slip juglets can have a pierced projection at the base of the neck. Some small Red Polished animal figurines are pierced in the same way.
Related terms
- 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.
- Red Slip ware
A name given to several red-slipped Cypriot wares: a Middle and Late Bronze Age ware, an Iron Age class, and a Roman fine ware.