Ointment Vessel

CC0 Public Domain Designation

New Kingdom, Dynasty 18 (about 1550-1295 BCE)

Egyptian

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.

Status: On View, Gallery 50
Department: Arts of Africa

Culture: Ancient Egyptian
Title: Ointment Vessel
Place: Egypt (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: c. 1550 BCE–1295 BCE
Medium: Travertine (Egyptian alabaster)
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
Reference Number: 1894.991
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/128012/manifest.json

Thomas George Allen, A Handbook of the Egyptian Collection (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1923), p. 95 (ill.).
Emily Teeter. “Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago.” Special issue, Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 20, no. 1 (1994): pp. 18,19 (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, Life and Afterlife in Ancient Egypt, Feb. 11, 2022 - present.

Reverend Chauncey Murch (1859-1907), Luxor, Egypt; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1894; price reimbursed by Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson, 1894.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.