Kohl Container in the Shape of a Palm Column

CC0 Public Domain Designation

New Kingdom, mid–Dynasty 18 or early Dynasty 19, about 1352–1213 BCE

Egyptian

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.

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

Culture: Ancient Egyptian
Title: Kohl Container in the Shape of a Palm Column
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.: 1352 BCE–1213 BCE
Medium: Glass
Dimensions: 8.3 × 3.6 × 3.5 cm (3 5/16 × 1 7/16 × 1 7/16 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Theodore W. and Frances S. Robinson
Reference Number: 1941.1084
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/43353/manifest.json

Wanda Odell, “Ancient Glass: The Mr. and Mrs. Theodore W. Robinson Collection, Gallery 5A, The Art Institute of Chicago,” 1940, unpublished catalogue in curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
Charles Fabens Kelley, “The Robinson Collection of Antique Glass,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 34, no. 5 (1940), pp. 79-80 (ill.).
Geraldine Casper, Glass Paperweights in the Art Institute of Chicago, (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1991), p. 9 (ill.).
Karen Alexander, “The New Galleries of Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” Minerva vol. 5, no. 3 (May/June, 1994), p. 35, fig. 15.
Kurt T. Luckner, Ancient Glass, Museum Studies: Ancient Art at The Art Institute of Chicago 20, no. 1 (1994), p 82 (ill.), no. 58.
Art Institute of Chicago, “CLEOPATRA; THE ANCIENT WORLD,” Computer Program (Art Institute of Chicago, 1997).
The Art Institute of Chicago, The Essential Guide (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2013), p. 62.

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

Kalebdjian Frères, Paris; sold to Azeez, Khayat, by 1928; sold to Theodore W. and Frances S. Robinson, by 1928 [correspondence in curatorial file]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1941.

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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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.