Vase in the Shape of a Mother Monkey with Her Offspring

Vase in the Shape of a Mother Monkey with Her Offspring

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This mother monkey holds her baby clinging tightly to her chest. The inscription reads "Ny-Khaswt-Meryre [female] tenant landholder"[of the pyramid endowment of Pepy I] and "first occurrence of the jubilee." Inscriptions on this and similar vases (e.g., 30.8.134) suggest that the vessels were given by Sixth Dynasty kings to favored courtiers, particularly women, at the time of the king's jubilee.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Vase in the Shape of a Mother Monkey with Her OffspringVase in the Shape of a Mother Monkey with Her OffspringVase in the Shape of a Mother Monkey with Her OffspringVase in the Shape of a Mother Monkey with Her OffspringVase in the Shape of a Mother Monkey with Her Offspring

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.