Vase in the Shape of a Mother Monkey with Her Offspring

Unknown

ca. 2289–2255 B.C. · Travertine (Egyptian alabaster), paint · Egyptian Art

This mother monkey holds her baby clinging tightly to her chest. The inscription reads "Ny-Khaswt-Meryre [female] tenant landholder"[of the pyramid endowment of Pepy I] and "first occurrence of the jubilee." Inscriptions on this and similar vases (e.g., 30.8.134) suggest that the vessels were given by Sixth Dynasty kings to favored courtiers, particularly women, at the time of the king's jubilee.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 2289–2255 B.C.

Medium

Travertine (Egyptian alabaster), paint

Department

Egyptian Art

Credit line

Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, Fletcher Fund, and Lila Acheson Wallace, Russell and Judy Carson, William Kelly Simpson, and Vaughn Foundation Gifts, in honor of Henry George Fischer, 1992