<em>Vessel in the Form of a Kneeling Woman</em>, ca. 1336–1327 B.C.E., ca. 1327–1323 b.c, or ca. 1323–1295 B.C.E. Steatite, glaze, 3 13/16 x 2 in. (9.7 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 49.53. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.49.53_wwg8.jpg)

Vessel in the Form of a Kneeling Woman, ca. 1336–1327 B.C.E., ca. 1327–1323 b.c, or ca. 1323–1295 B.C.E. Steatite, glaze, 3 13/16 x 2 in. (9.7 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 49.53. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.49.53_wwg8.jpg)

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Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

There's a figurine made from "glazed steatite" and a jewelry spacer made from glazed faience, from about 1000 BC, and they're this gorgeous blue or green. Is that how they were found or somehow worked on to get back that color?

I'm sure they've been cleaned, but other than that faience, especially, holds color VERY well. That's part of the reason the ancient Egyptians used it so much.

Steatite is a type of stone that can also be glazed in a similar way. The glazes are glass-based which has a lot to do with how they've remained so stable.

Vessel in the Form of a Kneeling Woman

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

MEDIUM Steatite, glaze

Place Made: Egypt

DATES ca. 1336–1327 B.C.E., ca. 1327–1323 b.c, or ca. 1323–1295 B.C.E.

DYNASTY late Dynasty 18

PERIOD New Kingdom

DIMENSIONS 3 13/16 x 2 in. (9.7 x 5.1 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 49.53

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

PROVENANCE Archaeological provenance not yet documented; by 1869, acquired by William Henry Forman of Dorking, England; 1869, inherited by Mrs. Major Burt of Dorking; circa 1889, inherited by Alexander Henry Browne of Callaly Castle, Northumberland, England, no. 1535; June 20, 1899, sold at Sotheby's London, "The Forman Collection of Antiquities, and Objects of Art of the Renaissance, etc.," lot 223; between 1899 and 1926, provenance not yet documented; by January 16, 1926, acquired by Thomas David Gibson-Carmichael of Skirling, Scotland; June 9, 1926, purchased from the estate of Thomas David Gibson-Carmichael at Sotheby's London, "The Collections Formed by the Late Lord Carmichael of Skirling," lot 273, by Kalebdjian Frères of Paris, France; between 1926 and 1933, provenance not yet documented; by July 1933, acquired by Maurice Nahman of Cairo, Egypt; July 24, 1933, purchased from Maurice Nahman by the Brummer Gallery, New York, NY, P10019; March 3, 1949, purchased from the Brummer Gallery by the Brooklyn Museum.

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CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Green glazed stone figure of kneeling woman. Figure kneels with body resting on legs. Hands extended on thighs; left hand claps nw pot; in right hand a curved horn. Across torso three conventionalized lines of fat. Headdress of Middle Kingdom type with long braid at back. Circular opening on top of head. Body hollowed; oblong opening at base. Use unknown. Apparently was originally fitted to a base. On the left side of the figure there is a line which starts on the palm of the hand and runs down over the thigh onto the calf of the leg. That portion of this line which lies on the leg is cut by a series of short parallel lines. These lines, which are beneath the glaze, appear to be painted on. The apparent continuation of this line, from mid-calf down under the leg, is a crack which is also beneath the glaze. There is no other trace of paint on this piece. Condition: Rim chipped. Area missing on left side adjoining left elbow.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view on the 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

CAPTION Vessel in the Form of a Kneeling Woman, ca. 1336–1327 B.C.E., ca. 1327–1323 b.c, or ca. 1323–1295 B.C.E. Steatite, glaze, 3 13/16 x 2 in. (9.7 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 49.53. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.49.53_wwg8.jpg)

IMAGE installation, West Wing gallery 8 installation, CUR.49.53_wwg8.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2006

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

RIGHTS STATEMENT 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.

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Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

I'm sure they've been cleaned, but other than that faience, especially, holds color VERY well. That's part of the reason the ancient Egyptians used it so much.

Steatite is a type of stone that can also be glazed in a similar way. The glazes are glass-based which has a lot to do with how they've remained so stable.