Tutankhamun's Cosmetic Jar with a Recumbent Lion on the Lid
By STAN PARCHIN
May 5, 2010
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| Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18 (ca. 1332-1323 B.C.). Cosmetic Jar with a Recumbent Lion on the Lid. Calcite, ivory and gold. H. 26.7 cm; W. 22 cm. Thebes, Valley of the Kings, Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62). Egyptian Museum, Cairo. |
Archaeologist Howard Carter discovered more than 80 stone vessels of various types in the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun (r. 1332-1323 B.C.). These included amphorae, bowls, cups, jars, jugs, lids, stands, stoppers, vases and fragments made predominantly of calcite. Often gilded, painted and inlaid with colored glass and semiprecious stones, they were used to store precious oils and cosmetics. Some 75 of these objects were recovered from the sepulcher's Antechamber and Annex. A Cosmetic Jar with a Recumbent Lion on the Lid (ca. 1332-1323 B.C.) was found between the Burial Chamber's first and second shrines in 1923. The ornately carved and decorated container is on view in the special exhibition Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs.
Cosmetic Jar's Design and Contents
The reclining lion on top of the jar's lid, emblazoned with Tutankhamun's name in a royal cartouche on its side, perhaps suggests the boy-king's leonine qualities. Its eyes are gilded. The nose, eyebrows, claws, tip of the tail and other details are painted dark blue. With the feline's head turned facing the viewer and its front paws neatly crossed, the recumbent lion's innovative pose is reminiscent of two pink Aswan granite beasts carved for the Nubian temple of Pharaoh Amenhotep III (r. 1390-1353 B.C.) at Soleb. Both life-size sculptures reside in the British Museum. The creature's pendant pinkish ivory tongue is repeated in the two lion-headed images of the protective household god Bes that rest on the pair of small lotus pillars beneath the pivoted lid. Both columns are inscribed with Tutankhamun's cartouches and titles. A binding cord was tied and knotted around two mushroom-shaped knobs on the jar to seal it.
The cylindrical container's exterior features lightly incised hunting scenes of mostly combative animals. Both sides of the jar are dominated by a bull being seized by a lion. Its front depicts a hound whose two companions attack an ibex. The back scene displays a dog chasing a gazelle, a reclining gazelle and a desert hare. The animals' active arrangement resembles that of the energetic beasts seen on the golden sheath of a dagger that was wrapped strategically within the linens of Tutankhamun's mummy. The vessel's dark bluish black background is punctuated randomly by flora. An upper band of triangular lotus petals runs around the jar's rim. The lower one is comprised of vertical rectangles that recall an ancient Egyptian palace's facade.
Two calcite crossbars form the cosmetic jar's base. They terminate in red stone heads of bearded Asiatics and black stone busts of Nubians wearing ivory earrings. The images' presence and position reflect their roles in the vessel's brilliant design as representations of Tutankhamun's defeated enemies. They contribute to the container's regal symbolism of the powerful king seen as a lion maintaining order in a cosmos threatened by chaos.
About one pound of a cosmetic mixture composed of animal fat and vegetable resins was discovered inside the jar when it was opened.
Sources
Edwards, I.E.S. Treasures of Tutankhamun (exh. cat.). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1976, 50-51, 124-125.
Hawass, Zahi. Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs (exh. cat.). Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2005, 240-241.
James, T.G.H. Tutankhamun. New York: MetroBooks, 2000, 314-315.
Reeves, Nicholas. The Complete Tutankhamun: The King, The Tomb, The Royal Treasure. New York: Thames & Hudson Inc., 1990, 197-199.
Russmann, Edna R., et al. Eternal Egypt: Masterworks of Ancient Art from the British Museum (exh. cat.). London: British Museum Press, 2001, 130-131.