Cosmetic Box from the tomb of Sennedjem

Cosmetic Box from the tomb of Sennedjem

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The lid of this box, which is attached at the back with horizontal pivots, opens to reveal four compartments for cosmetics. The box could be secured by winding a piece of twine around the two knobs at the front. Its elaborate decoration was intended to imitate more expensive boxes inlaid with ebony, ivory, and perhaps cedar or mahogany. The box is from the tomb of Sennedjem, who was an artist living in the time of Ramesses II. Other objects in the collection that were discovered in the same tomb can be viewed here.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Cosmetic Box from the tomb of SennedjemCosmetic Box from the tomb of SennedjemCosmetic Box from the tomb of SennedjemCosmetic Box from the tomb of SennedjemCosmetic Box from the tomb of Sennedjem

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.