Ivory Kohl Container
New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, c. 1295–1185 B.C.
Possibly made at Thebes
Brooklyn Museum. Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund. 49.51
Carved from a single piece of ivory, this exquisite kohl container turns an object of everyday adornment into a tiny garden of abundance.
Upon one face, an elegantly dressed woman moves amongst blossoms, bearing floral tribute as a sacrificial calf walks beside her.
On the reverse of the ivory kohl container, lotus and papyrus blossoms rise amongst pomegranates in a delicately ordered design. Age has darkened parts of the carving, softening some details almost into shadow; forms that now resemble leaves are identified by museum curators as four pairs of ducks nestled within the composition.
The imagery evokes the fertile world of the Nile, with flowers opening upon the water, fruit ripening on the bank, and birds hidden amongst the reeds. The lotus, forever returning with the light, carried associations of renewal and rebirth.
Made during Egypt’s 19th Dynasty, c. 1295–1185 B.C., the container belongs to the great Ramesside age of the New Kingdom; the world of Seti I, Ramesses II and their successors.
Its refined ivory carving and luxuriant imagery are characteristic of the period’s taste for beautifully worked objects of personal use. The Brooklyn Museum suggests that it may have been made at Thebes, one of Egypt’s greatest artistic and religious centres, although its precise ancient find spot is not recorded.
More than three thousand years later, even a little of its kohl remains: a remarkably intimate survival from an object once held in the hand, opened before a mirror, and used in the quiet rituals of an Ancient Egyptian life.
More than three thousand years later, the scene is no longer quite as its owner would have known it. Time has veiled parts of its little garden, leaving only traces of the original design to emerge from the ivory.
Kohl
Kohl was among the most enduring cosmetics of Ancient Egypt. Ground into a dark powder and applied around the eyes with a slender stick, it produced the sweeping black lines so closely associated with Egyptian faces in art.
Kohl was worn by women and men alike, and belonged as much to daily grooming as to ideas of beauty, protection and well-being. Certain eye preparations may also have helped protect the eyes from glare and irritation, while the darkened eye itself carried powerful associations with divine protection, particularly the restored and watchful Eye of Horus.
Kohl in Ancient Egypt (Full Article)
Containers for kohl ranged from simple vessels to wonderfully elaborate luxury pieces such as this. Their narrow compartments held the precious cosmetic, while cords threaded through the holes at the top once secured individual stoppers.
Here, even the storage of make-up becomes something graceful and almost intimate: a small personal possession decorated with flowers, fruit and birds, preserving within it a trace of the beauty rituals of someone who lived more than three thousand years ago.
Summary:
Solid Ivory Kohl Container
New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, c. 1295–1185 B.C.
Possibly made at Thebes
Brooklyn Museum. Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund. 49.51
