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Kohl Jar with Lid

A work made of travertine (egyptian alabaster).
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of travertine (egyptian alabaster).

Date:

Middle Kingdom-early New Kingdom, Dynasty 12-early Dynasty 18, about 1985-1479 BCE

Artist:

Egyptian

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.

Status

On View, Gallery 50

Department

Arts of Africa

Culture

Ancient Egyptian

Title

Kohl Jar with Lid

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. 1985 BCE–1479 BCE

Medium

Travertine (Egyptian alabaster)

Dimensions

4.5 × 4.1 × 4.1 cm (1 13/16 × 1 5/8 × 1 5/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson

Reference Number

1894.664a-b

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/136371/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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