Biconical alabastron with zones of bichrome decoration including floral elements, dancers, and Bes-like figures

Biconical alabastron with zones of bichrome decoration including floral elements, dancers, and Bes-like figures

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The rim is broken away, but the body decoration is preserved. Registers of garlands, a vine (?) pattern, and rosettes, are followed by two figural registers. The upper registers depicts figures with shoulder length hair curled up at the rear and wearing long flowing garments. They appear to be dancing or running. The lower figural register depicts figures with feathers, broad faces, and tails - apparently Bes-images. Some figures are running, others are gathered around a vessel on a stand on one side, and on the other what appears to be a cauldron or stove. Beneath the figural registers the body of the vessels is covered with a weave pattern.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Biconical alabastron with zones of bichrome decoration including floral elements, dancers, and Bes-like figuresBiconical alabastron with zones of bichrome decoration including floral elements, dancers, and Bes-like figuresBiconical alabastron with zones of bichrome decoration including floral elements, dancers, and Bes-like figuresBiconical alabastron with zones of bichrome decoration including floral elements, dancers, and Bes-like figuresBiconical alabastron with zones of bichrome decoration including floral elements, dancers, and Bes-like figures

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.