Kohl Container in the Shape of a Palm Column
New Kingdom, mid–Dynasty 18 or early Dynasty 19, about 1352–1213 BCE
Medium
Glass
Dimensions
8.3 × 3.6 × 3.5 cm (3 5/16 × 1 7/16 × 1 7/16 in.)
Classification
personal grooming / hygiene / cosmetic container
Department
Arts of Africa
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
43353
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
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.
About the Artist
Ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egyptian artists, a collective of highly skilled artisans spanning over three millennia from the Predynastic period (c. 6000–3150 BC) to the Roman era (30 BC–4th century AD), produced some of humanity's most enduring masterpieces. These anonymous craftsmen, often organized in state-sponsored workshops, lived in dedicated communities like Deir el-Medina near Luxor during the New Kingdom (c....