This container of black eye paint, or kohl is a neat little portable object. It consists of an octagonal wooden box with an ivory base and lid. The lid swivels around a wooden peg with a studded head. A copper-wire loop has been fixed to the front of the lid, and two pairs of such loops are attached to the main body of the container. The two pairs on the front of the body hold a small, accurately shaped replica of a kind of bolt used in ancient Egypt to close doors of houses and shrines. When pushed upward this bolt fits into the wire loop on the lid and thus closes the box. The two other wire loops hold the implement with which the owner applied the kohl.
