Bottle with Openwork Shell
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Object Label
Egyptian blue is a copper-calcium tetrasilicate that the ancient Egyptians pulverized, mixed into a paste, and used to fashion objects fired at a low temperature. Seldom were those objects as large as this vessel, a technical masterpiece made of several parts. The rim and the base are shaped like lotus flowers, symbols of birth and rebirth, and the shell is adorned with images of deities in a setting represented by architectural columns.
Caption
Bottle with Openwork Shell, ca. 1075–712 B.C.E.. Egyptian blue, 6 11/16 x greatest diam. 2 15/16 in. (17 x 7.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 44.175. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 44.175_SL1.jpg)
Title
Bottle with Openwork Shell
Date
ca. 1075–712 B.C.E.
Period
Third Intermediate Period
Geography
Place made: Upper Egypt, Egypt
Medium
Egyptian blue
Classification
Dimensions
6 11/16 x greatest diam. 2 15/16 in. (17 x 7.5 cm)
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
44.175
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
Do you know the original function of this piece?
This piece was originally intended to be decorative! It is made from a material called Egyptian blue and is surprisingly large for the material.Son originales o Réplicas?
Si, todos son originales!Tell me more.
This openwork bottle is really a remarkable piece! Egyptian blue was typically used as a pigment (the first synthetic pigment!), and it is very rare to see it as a larger, stand-alone object.You can also tell that it is an object of luxury because it clearly only serves a decorative, or possibly symbolic purpose. It wouldn't have been able to hold anything!
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