Toilet vase with two handles, inscribed for the Seal Bearer Kemes
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.
Artwork Details
- Title: Toilet vase with two handles, inscribed for the Seal Bearer Kemes
- Period: Middle Kingdom
- Dynasty: Dynasty 12, late–early 13
- Date: ca. 1850–1775 B.C.
- Geography: From Egypt, Memphite Region, Lisht North, cemetery west of pyramid of Amenemhat I, so-called "toilet basket I," not with burial, MMA excavations
- Medium: Glazed steatite
- Dimensions: h. 3.3 cm (1 5/16 in); diam. 3.1 cm (1 1/4 in)
- Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1944
- Object Number: 44.4.2
- Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art
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