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Cylindrical Vessel or Stand for Offering Table

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
This object may have been a container but was more probably used as a stand for a disk-shaped stone offering table. Egyptian alabaster, a form of calcite, is related to limestone. Egyptians appreciated the beauty of alabaster, but they rarely used it for sculpture because of its color variations.
MEDIUM Egyptian alabaster (calcite)
  • Place Excavated: Kom el-Ahmar, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 2675–2170 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 3 (?)
    PERIOD Old Kingdom
    DIMENSIONS 4 3/4 x Diam. 5 3/4 in. (12.1 x 14.6 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 07.447.28
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    PROVENANCE Kom-el-Ahmar, Egypt, reportedly in the brick fillings of a shaft in a mastaba of the Ancient Empire, 3rd Dynasty; 1907, excavated by Henri de Morgan of Francescas, France and New York, NY for the Brooklyn Museum.
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    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Stand of an offering table, very slightly tapering, or cylindrical vase used as such. Deeply hollowed, with coverging boring. Top (base) and ring-base (rim) perfectly flat. Sides straight, extremely slightly narrowing to base (rim). Condition: Rather badly weathered.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
    CAPTION Cylindrical Vessel or Stand for Offering Table, ca. 2675–2170 B.C.E. Egyptian alabaster (calcite), 4 3/4 x Diam. 5 3/4 in. (12.1 x 14.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 07.447.28. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.07.447.28_erg2.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, CUR.07.447.28_erg2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 10/16/2007
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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