Cosmetic Vessel and Application Stick

Carved from a block of ebony and covered with a lid trimmed in ivory, this kohl tube of quadruple cylinder type with five separate wells was inscribed in sunk relief hieroglyphs on a plinth at the front for its male owner, the "wab priest of Amun in the second phyle, Neferyheqet the revered". The ivory lid swivels horizontally on a single ebony knob. A connecting string wound around an ivory knob at the side of the block would attach the lid; the kohl stick also secured the lid as it passed through a hole in the cover into a tubular hole in the top of the block. Three metal staples at the side were doubtless to retain additional kohl sticks. The ivory lid is chipped and two bronze staples are missing. The tubes contain remnants of kohl. Joseph Mayer acquired this object from the Joseph Sams Collection (no. 248) in 1850.