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View at the museum ↗Ointment Vessel
Ancient EgyptianNew Kingdom, Dynasty 18 (about 1550-1295 BCE)
- Attribution
- Egyptian
- Medium
- Travertine (Egyptian alabaster)
- Physical dimensions
- 17.1 × 11.2 × 3.1 cm (6 3/4 × 4 7/16 × 1 3/16 in.)
- Credit line
- Gift of Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson
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Source rights statement: Public domain
View the museum record ↗From the museum
Perfumes and fragrant ointments for soothing the skin were an important part of beauty routines in Egypt’s hot, dry climate. Like the sometimes costly cosmetics they were designed to contain, these elegant vessels were desirable luxury goods, made in varied forms from an array of materials. The shallow bowl here was used for scented ointments and is embellished with a pomegranate-shaped handle. Regarded as a fertility symbol because of its numerous seeds, the pomegranate became a popular decorative motif in ancient Egyptian jewelry and other objects associated with beauty.
Description: Art Institute of Chicago · CC BY 4.0