Cosmetic Dish

Ornate dish in the shape of a bound ibex, the body is hollowed out for the bowl. The detailing of the head turned back against the body is indicted with care. Although the general form is conventional, the maker chose to emphasise the ribs which are like the indentations of the horn, indicated by incision. In the New Kingdom dishes and spoons used for preparing cosmetics were often carved in the shape of animals which were hunted around the River Nile and in the desert. This dish carved from a soft stone (steatite), represents an ibex that has been caught by a hunter.