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Ancient Egypt, Third Intermediate to Late Dynastic Period, 21st to 31st Dynasty, ca. 1069 to 332 BCE. A stunning modeled offering with a flat, rectangular tray and ten conical cups with discoid bases and ringed rims arranged in two rows of five, all formed from gorgeous periwinkle-hued faience. The base of each cup is integral with the tray upon which they stand, indicating the entire offering presentation was formed in a single cohesive mold. The artist who created this offering ensemble used copper to create the gorgeous sky-blue faience glaze that coats every element of the tray and cups. The cups may have displayed a series of hieroglyphic text as an offering to a specific god or pharaoh, though no such text is present. Several of the cups contain traces of the original kohl material with one cup filled almost to its rim. Size: 5″ L x 1.75″ W x 1.75″ H (12.7 cm x 4.4 cm x 4.4 cm).
Faience was known as “tjehnet” to the ancient Egyptians, meaning “brilliant” or “dazzling.” It was made by grinding quartz or sand crystals together with various elements, including copper oxide, which gave it its distinctive blue or blue-green tint. The Egyptians believed that blue faience reflected the color of the river Nile both on earth and in the afterlife, and funerary objects are often made from this material. Faience cups were placed in tombs holding various kinds of food or drink as an offering. Blue faience symbolized the color of the river Nile both on earth and in the afterlife. This example of a ten-cup offering tray may have been used by the living as a container for various types and colors of kohl make-up, or perhaps as an offering to a high-status woman who enjoyed cosmetics and how they made her look when in public.
Condition: Repair to one cup at base. Surface wear and abrasions commensurate with age as expected, fading to blue glaze coloration, minor chips and nicks to cup rims, bases, and tray, and some roughness along most surfaces. Light earthen deposits throughout. Nice remains of original kohl material inside several cups.
Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-prominent New York, New York, USA collection
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