Figure Vase of Woman Holding Dog
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
Throughout the mid-Eighteenth Dynasty, a small group of potters, perhaps members of a single workshop, fashioned charming vessels in human and animal forms. They shaped the two halves of each container in open molds and joined the pieces along the sides. Complex details such as arms were created by hand and applied to the molded pieces. The potters then covered the vessel with a red slip (a mixture of clay and water) and polished the surface. This example depicts a servant woman carrying a small dog, perhaps the honored pet of her master or mistress.
Caption
Figure Vase of Woman Holding Dog, ca. 1479–1353 B.C.E.. Clay, 7 5/8 x 2 1/2 x 1 15/16 in. (19.3 x 6.3 x 4.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.331E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.331E_erg456.jpg)
Title
Figure Vase of Woman Holding Dog
Date
ca. 1479–1353 B.C.E.
Dynasty
Dynasty 18
Period
New Kingdom
Geography
Reportedly from: Saqqara, Egypt
Medium
Clay
Classification
Dimensions
7 5/8 x 2 1/2 x 1 15/16 in. (19.3 x 6.3 x 4.9 cm)
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
37.331E
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
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Frequent Art Questions
What materials & tools were used to make the Figure Vase of Woman Holding a Dog?
This vase is made of clay like all ceramics. A mold was made to form the clay and then it was fired to harden it.The shiny red surface is a result of a type of polishing.The label says pottery, red-slipped and burnished. What does that mean?That is the material. Pottery and ceramic basically mean the same thing. The red slip is applied to the surface to make it more red and then burnishing is like polishing, it's what makes the piece shiny.What time period and location does the Figure Vase of a Woman Holding a Dog come from?
For the Figure Vase, the time is between about 1479 and 1352 BCE which is during Dynasty 18 which is during the New Kingdom.We believe that this vase is from a place called Saqqara in Egypt which is not far from modern-day Cairo.What are some of the interpretations of the this piece? I see it as a visual of a woman's or slave's struggle.
That's interesting! The label says that it depicts a servant woman carrying a small dog and maybe that the dog is the honored pet of her employer.
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