Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Cosmetic Container
Middle Kingdom
Not on view
This object is not part of The Met collection. It was in the Museum for a special exhibition and has been returned to the lender.
Containers for cosmetic materials occur frequently in the burials of more affluent late Middle Kingdom individuals, carrying connotations of resurrection and rebirth. This small sculptural vessel in the form of a standing man wearing a sharply angled wig and a three-quarter-length kilt is an elaborate example. The wide-mouthed bowl that the man supports on a block base was doubtless intended as a container for kohl eye makeup.
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