Artwork Page for Paint Box of Vizier Amenemope

Details / Information for Paint Box of Vizier Amenemope

Paint Box of Vizier Amenemope

c. 1427–1401 BCE

Egypt, New Kingdom (1540–1069 BCE), Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep II

(1425–1400 BCE)
Medium
boxwood with inscription inlaid in Egyptian blue
Measurements
Overall: 2.2 x 21 x 3.6 cm (7/8 x 8 1/4 x 1 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1914.680
Public Domain
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Location
001A ArtLens Exhibition
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Did You Know?

Painting was a popular and time-honored pastime among the upper classes in Egypt.

Description

This paint box was made in Egypt more than 3,000 years ago. It includes five pots of color, each made of different minerals. Conservators identified the pigments using X-ray diffraction, a process that helps them determine the minerals that make up each color. The paint box belonged to a man named Amenemope (say: ah-men-em-oh-pee) who advised the pharaoh (king). He probably used it for fun, and it may have been buried with him when he died. The coffin panel on view nearby was made for a different man named Amenemope hundreds of years later.

Imagine you are painting a picture for a king! Which colors would you use? What would you paint?
A rectangular paint box features five, oval cut-outs filled with cakes of dried pigment, from top to bottom: red, dark blue, turquoise green, and two black. The pigment has bled over the edges, especially the black pigments. Bands of black hieroglyphics, a pictorial writing system, run across the upper and lower short edges, mostly worn away on the lower edge.

Paint Box of Vizier Amenemope

c. 1427–1401 BCE

Egypt, New Kingdom (1540–1069 BCE), Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep II (1425–1400 BCE)

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