Toilet vase with two handles, inscribed for the Seal Bearer Kemes

Unknown

ca. 1850–1775 B.C. · Glazed steatite · Egyptian Art

This small vessel — used most probably as a container for eye paint (kohl) — imitates the shape of a Canaanite jar, a large two- handled storage vessel of clay that was used in the trade of oils and resins from the Levant into Egypt at this time. This Egyptian miniature version is inscribed for the "Seal Bearer Kemes, "possessor of reverence." It was found — together with several other small vessels and a female figure — in a basket (called "toilet basket I" by the excavators) deposited west of the pyramid of Amenemhat I at Lisht North. A date for the group is suggested by the shape of a small ointment jar (44.4.3) also in the group.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1850–1775 B.C.

Medium

Glazed steatite

Department

Egyptian Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1944