Art Institute of Chicago (Egyptian) · vessel
Ointment Vessel
Description
Perfumes and fragrant ointments for soothing the skin were an important part of beauty routines in Egypt’s hot, dry climate. Like the sometimes costly cosmetics they were designed to contain, these elegant vessels were desirable luxury goods, made in varied forms from an array of materials. The shallow bowl here was used for scented ointments and is embellished with a pomegranate-shaped handle. Regarded as a fertility symbol because of its numerous seeds, the pomegranate became a popular decorative motif in ancient Egyptian jewelry and other objects associated with beauty.
Cross-references (1)
- ARTIC-id 128012 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Art Institute of Chicago (Egyptian).
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.