These two elegant objects exemplify the baroque taste of the prosperous Dynasty 18, a period when the economy of Egypt was approaching its zenith. The general prosperity affected many aspects of material culture. Clothing became much more complex with pleating, layers of linen, and sashes. Hairstyles became more elaborate, with layers of curls and preposterously wide festival wigs that bring to mind the court of King Louis XIV. This tendency to elaborate upon simple forms (see cat. 55) is evident in these two vessels.1

The low, round, ribbed ointment vessel (cat. 57) stands on a short, conical foot. It is made of one piece, and the underside of the foot has been carved out to form a concave recess. This form is known from the reign of Thutmose III into the reign of Ramesses II.^[1] The shape became more elaborate over time, evolving from that exemplified in cat. 57 to one with an additional rib in the middle and a taller, more slender foot; given its form, cat. 57 likely dates to the earlier stage of this stylistic development. It has been suggested that this form of ointment vessel was imported from Syria, another legacy of the eastern campaigns of Thutmose III (for another technical innovation resulting from his foreign campaigns, see cat. 59).^[2] It has also been suggested that it may be a copy of a vessel usually made of metal.^[3] In Egypt, examples exist in travertine, glass, and faience.2

The low, shallow dish with a rounded bottom (cat. 58) has a handle carved in the shape of a pomegranate (Punica granatum), shown with the prominent calyx that crowns the fruit. The pomegranate was an apt ornament for a dish associated with beauty, for it was a symbol of fertility and rebirth because of the number of seeds within the fruit.^[4] The pomegranate was often used as a decorative motif on jewelry.3

Additional Views of Cats. 57–58

The first evidence of the pomegranate in Egypt comes from the Second Intermediate Period; by the New Kingdom, it was well known. It appears in offering scenes and on jewelry (in the form of faience pomegranates), and it is depicted in the so-called Botanical Garden of Thutmose III at Karnak, alongside other exotic plants.^[5] Two vessels made in the shape of the fruit also were recovered from the tomb of Tutankhamun.^[6] It is indigenous to southeast Turkey and the Caspian area. The pomegranate is a hardy, small shrub or tree that does well in poor soil and with little water, so it was ideally suited to the Nile Valley.4

Both these vessels were intended to hold perfumed ointments (their relatively large size suggests that they were not intended for concentrated perfumes). Their open forms and lack of lids indicate that they were not designed for the long-term storage of ointments, which would have dried out, but rather for presenting them and allowing them to be easily applied. The Egyptians were, at least according to their records, fastidious about bathing. This habit, along with the hot, dry climate, required them to use ointments to maintain their skin. As the Old Kingdom wisdom text of Ptahhotep advises, one element of a happy household and wife is the ointment that “soothes her body.”^[7] Ointments were made of oils of castor, linseed, moringa, sesame, and/or fat.5

Travertine (also called Egyptian alabaster or calcite) was a material favored for decorative vessels (see cats. 50–54, 56), because of its beautiful banding and translucence.^[8] It comes in a range of colors, from bright white, to tan, and light brown, and can range from almost opaque to translucent. It is relatively soft, having a value of 3 on the Mohs hardness scale. Veins of it are found in limestone throughout Egypt, although the most famous and productive source was at Hatnub. The ancient Egyptian word for this stone is shes. Travertine was so valued that it was a standard element in prayers for funerary offerings, along with bread, beer, oxen, fowl, and incense. The stone was also used for canopic jars, statuettes, sarcophagi, small-scale shrines, and cladding for walls and, more rarely, for floors.
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Provenance

57.
The Art Institute of Chicago, acquired in 1894.7

58.
Reverend Chauncey Murch (1859–1907), Luxor, Egypt; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1894.8

Publication History

57.
Thomas George Allen, A Handbook of the Egyptian Collection (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1923), 95, 96 (ill.).9

Emily Teeter, “Egyptian Art,” in “Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” special issue, Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 20, no. 1 (1994): 18, 19 (ill.), 20.10

58.
Thomas George Allen, A Handbook of the Egyptian Collection (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1923), 95 (ill.).11

Emily Teeter, “Egyptian Art,” in “Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” special issue, Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 20, no. 1 (1994): 18, 19 (ill.).
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