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 with a Girl Wearing a Fish Pendant
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.
This figurine of a girl supporting a pot served as a container for kohl, a type of eye paint. She wears a girdle with cowrie shells, an erotic garment seen elsewhere in the exhibition. From her long braid hangs a fish pendant, probably depicting a tilapia, which symbolized rebirth. A charming ancient Egyptian tale recounts how a magician helped a young woman from the royal palace retrieve a turquoise fish pendant that had accidentally fallen into a lake.
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