General InformationNicosia Hellenistic Dull Slip ware was used for four types of table vessels: saucers with dropping rim, everted and incurved rim bowls, skyphoi with upraised handles. All are consistent in character, being sturdy, thick-walled, and neatly made but finished off in a perfunctory manner with simply turned rims and straight-sided feet. This may be contrasted with the relatively more fastidious finishing evident in the table vessels of NE Cypriot Hellenistic Metallic Slip ware.

This ware is less common than NE Cypriot Hellenistic Metallic Slip ware, but it is also represented in the nearby cemetery of Agioi Omologites. Confined distribution, along with the casual finish of the vessels, suggests that this ware may be local to the Nicosia region. The paste of Nicosia Hellenistic Dull Slip ware is similar in color and texture to the paste of many of the plain ware utility vessels found at this site, and it may be that it is a slightly more refined version of the same clay.
Description
The paste in granular in texture, through without visible inclusions, and light yellow-brown in color (7.5YR 8/4 - 5YR 7/6). The slip is thin, and varies from light red to dull brown to pale black in color. Coverage is total, meaning not only the entire outside of the foot (usually reserved on Hellenistic period table vessels on account of dipping), though the vessels' resting surface and undersides are unslipped. The slip is fairly secure, despite being thin, and there is not much flaking off.

Nicosia, Agios Georgios (Cyprus/Western Mesoria)