Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art · other

Hair Curler in the Form of a Woman

Source of record: Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

Object Label: Hair Care The ancient Egyptians took great care in grooming their hair as well as their wigs. Egyptian men and women shaved their body hair and cut the hair on their heads very short or shaved it completely as a precaution against lice. On ceremonial occasions such as festivals or banquets, men and women wore wigs fashioned from human hair that had been pleated or twirled into locks using small curlers. A cream containing beeswax was rubbed onto the wigs so they would hold their form. Facial and pubic hair was removed with tweezers and razors. Catalogue description: Culture Egyptian Caption: Egyptian. Hair Curler in the Form of a Woman, ca. 1539–1292 B.C.E.. Bronze, 7/8 x 2 5/16 in. (2.2 x 5.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.654E. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

AI image analysis GPT-4o-2024-08-06

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

An ancient Egyptian bronze artifact depicting a figure with a pointed implement.

The artifact is made of bronze and depicts a stylized human figure reclining propped on a long, pointed implement. The figure appears to have detailed features, including stylized hair and an elongated body. It is mounted on a horizontal bar supported by a vertical stand.

decorative unknown good
Materials bronze

Connections

Found at Egypt
Materials Bronze

Cross-references (2)

  • BKM-Accession 37.654E tier-2
  • BKM-Object 4079 tier-2
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
  • 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.