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Kohl Container in the Shape of a Palm Column
New Kingdom, mid–Dynasty 18 or early Dynasty 19, about 1352–1213 BCE
- Medium
- Glass
- Classification
- Vessel
- Dimensions
- 8.3 × 3.6 × 3.5 cm (3 5/16 × 1 7/16 × 1 7/16 in.)
- Culture
- Egypt
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Africa
- Credit line
- Gift of Theodore W. and Frances S. Robinson
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This small container was designed to hold kohl, a cosmetic eye paint made of ground galena or malachite. Ancient Egyptian men and women wore kohl for its aesthetic appeal but also to dampen the harsh sunlight of North Africa and possibly even for medicinal purposes. The columns shaped like palm trees common in ancient Egyptian architecture inspired the elegant form of this glass vessel. Containers like this luxurious example were buried with their owners for continued use in the afterlife.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
