Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) · vessel

Kohl Tube Held by a Dwarf

Source of record: Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

Late Middle Kingdom–Second Intermediate Period, ca. 1717–1550 BC. Steatite. H. 5.8 × W. 2.4 × D. 2.3 cm (2 5/16 × 15/16 × 7/8 in.). From: Egypt. Credit: Bequest of Nanette B. Kelekian, 2020.

AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano

Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.

A small carved steatite figure depicts a human (possibly a dwarf) with a painted-in or incised face and torso, shown standing and holding an object across the body.

The image shows a small, front-facing anthropomorphic statue carved from a light-colored stone. The figure’s head has a defined face (almond-shaped eyes and a simplified mouth) and a stylized hairstyle. The torso is narrow with arms positioned as if holding an item against the chest; one arm crosses inward while the other supports or grips the object. The figure’s limbs and hands are simplified in a way consistent with Middle/Late Middle Kingdom–Second Intermediate Period-style small statuary. No legible painted pigments are clearly discernible from the photo, and there is no visible inscription or cartouche on the figure’s surface. A dark, rectangular display base is visible beneath the carving. No clear tube shape is visible in this view, but the overall pose is consistent with the catalogued subject of a “kohl tube held by a dwarf,” though the tube itself is not distinctly identifiable in the photograph.

decorative Late Middle Kingdom–Second Intermediate Period (per catalogue; exact dating unclear from photo) good
Materials stone (likely steatite per catalogue)dark display base (wood/stone stand)
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access).
  • 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.