Location

107 Egyptian

Fun Fact

This fish shape is one of the most common for Egyptian cosmetic palettes.

Description

Stone palettes were used for grinding eye paint worn for cosmetic purposes and to protect against sun glare and eye infections. There were two types: green, made from malachite (copper ore), and black, made from galena (lead ore). As funerary items, these ores may have had a deep significance for the deceased as symbols of regeneration and rebirth: the rich soil of the banks of the Nile (black), and the lush vegetation it sustained (green).

Provenance

Said to have been in the collections of Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie and John Garstang. Purchased from Peter Scharrer, New York

Citations

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 2 archive.org

Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač. Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999 Mentioned: p. 115-116; Reproduced: p. 115, color p. 42

Exhibition history

CMA 1990, no. 7, illus. p. 52

The Year in Review for 1989. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 6-April 15, 1990).

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Palette in the Form of a Fish

Egypt, Predynastic (5000–2950 BCE), Naqada II–III

Location

Fun Fact

Description