Kohl Jar with Lid
Middle Kingdom-early New Kingdom, Dynasty 12-early Dynasty 18, about 1985-1479 BCE
Medium
Travertine (Egyptian alabaster)
Dimensions
4.5 × 4.1 × 4.1 cm (1 13/16 × 1 5/8 × 1 5/8 in.)
Classification
personal grooming / hygiene / cosmetic container
Department
Arts of Africa
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
136371
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. Containers like this 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....