Lump of Blue Paste

Unknown

ca. 1479–1458 B.C. · Paste · Egyptian Art

This small lump is Egyptian blue, a synthetic pigment made from sand, lime, an alkali such as potash or natron, and a copper compound. The components were mixed together and heated in a furnace, producing blue lumps like this one, which could be ground into a pigment. The lump was in a wooden box (36.3.199) together with a bead, a piece of rock salt, and five berries. The box belonged to the burial of an elderly woman (for her coffin, see 36.3.184).

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1479–1458 B.C.

Medium

Paste

Department

Egyptian Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1936