Materials & Making
A Mummy Portrait Records a Painted Face on a Separate Support
Read an Egyptian mummy portrait through its painted support, museum record and surviving relationship to the burial assemblage.
Ancient objects, open questions
Materials & Making
Look closely at the substances, surfaces and craft behind ancient objects.
Materials & Making
An Egyptian Swivel-Top Box Makes Its Closing Mechanism Part of the Story
A small container can reward attention to movement as much as decoration. The Met’s ivory cosmetic box 16.10.425 has a lid designed to swivel around a peg…
Materials & Making
Sennedjem’s Painted Box Imitates Materials It Was Not Made From
A patterned surface can suggest precious inlay while being made by a different process. The cosmetic box from Sennedjem’s tomb offers a clear reason to read…
Materials & Making
A Whetstone in a Toiletry Basket Connects Care with Tool Maintenance
A toiletry set can include an object concerned with maintaining another tool rather than directly applying a cosmetic. The Met’s whetstone 26.7.837d is a…
Materials & Making
A Two-Centimetre Fish Hook Brings Egyptian Fishing Down to Object Scale
A fishing scene can suggest an entire working landscape. A surviving hook asks us to change scale and examine one small component whose own record may be…
Materials & Making
A Wooden Brick Mould Connects Egyptian Construction with a Foundation Deposit
A brick mould is a tool for giving material a repeatable form. The Met’s wooden example, object 25.3.108, also has a recorded archaeological setting: a…
Materials & Making
An Egyptian Harp’s Surviving Wood Is Only Part of Its Sounding Body
The Met’s arched harp, object 25.3.306a, b, preserves a wooden form whose musical operation involved other materials. The museum explains that its sound box…
Materials & Making
A Six-Centimetre Furniture Leg Does Not Reconstruct the Whole Egyptian Seat
A small surviving support can tempt us to imagine a complete piece of furniture. The Met’s ivory furniture leg, object 26.7.1283, is only six centimetres…