Cosmetic container (vessel)
Encyclopedia
A cosmetic container, cosmetic box, or cosmetic vessel is found in the historical records, both as an artifact, as relief
items in some cultures, and are sometimes referenced in historical or archaeological literature. They are sometimes created in specific styles, shapes, or motifs.
The named 'cosmetic vessel' in Ancient Greece
is the pyxis. In Ancient Egypt
artifacts of hieroglyphically inscribed kohl tubes are found; also kohl
vessels, and kohl spoons, which were formed in sylized shapes relevant to Egyptian ideology, including specific hieroglyphs.
The use of the cosmetic vessel may extend to trinket items, car-keys, toiletry accessories, for example a nail clipper; as a non-toiletry storage container, it becomes an 'all-purpose' decorated, special-use vessel.
Containers are known from many societies, ancient and modern. The Native American
s of the Americas made small containers woven from basketry materials, including pine needles.
toiletry items began in the Predynastic Period with ivory cosmetic articles; also bone, stone, or pottery. Ivory combs, and kohl
spoons were among the first, with many shapes; common themes for shapes became the ankh
symbol, ducks, lotus flowers, etc. In the time of the Predynastic and Old Kingdom
, bowls were also mechanically drill
ed, including miniature sizes, and were used in life and also included as grave goods
. The bowls were either a type of unguent jar, or a toiletry "kohl cosmetic vessel". The desert sun or Nile
floodwaters during inundation produced a need for facial-eye protection, using 'eyepaint' or eyeliner, when working in the flooded lands; theoretically it was also used by males. The creation of predynastic cosmetic palette
s with their eyepaint 'mixing circle', may have been the start of the lineage of the kohl cosmetic artifacts.
Relief
Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
items in some cultures, and are sometimes referenced in historical or archaeological literature. They are sometimes created in specific styles, shapes, or motifs.
The named 'cosmetic vessel' in Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
is the pyxis. In Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
artifacts of hieroglyphically inscribed kohl tubes are found; also kohl
Kohl (cosmetics)
Kohl is an ancient eye cosmetic. It was made by grinding galena and other ingredients. It is widely used in South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of West Africa to darken the eyelids and as mascara for the eyelashes...
vessels, and kohl spoons, which were formed in sylized shapes relevant to Egyptian ideology, including specific hieroglyphs.
The use of the cosmetic vessel may extend to trinket items, car-keys, toiletry accessories, for example a nail clipper; as a non-toiletry storage container, it becomes an 'all-purpose' decorated, special-use vessel.
Containers are known from many societies, ancient and modern. The Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
s of the Americas made small containers woven from basketry materials, including pine needles.
Ancient Egypt
In Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
toiletry items began in the Predynastic Period with ivory cosmetic articles; also bone, stone, or pottery. Ivory combs, and kohl
Kohl (cosmetics)
Kohl is an ancient eye cosmetic. It was made by grinding galena and other ingredients. It is widely used in South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of West Africa to darken the eyelids and as mascara for the eyelashes...
spoons were among the first, with many shapes; common themes for shapes became the ankh
Ankh
The ankh , also known as key of life, the key of the Nile or crux ansata, was the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic character that read "eternal life", a triliteral sign for the consonants ʻ-n-ḫ...
symbol, ducks, lotus flowers, etc. In the time of the Predynastic and Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom is the name given to the period in the 3rd millennium BC when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement – the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley .The term itself was...
, bowls were also mechanically drill
Hand drill (hieroglyph)
A Hand drill is a hieroglyph, , used in Ancient Egypt from the earliest dynasties. As a hieroglyph, it can also be used as a determinative for words related to the profession of vase, bowl, pot-making, etc., typically from fine-grained, colorful rare stone, for example unguent jars...
ed, including miniature sizes, and were used in life and also included as grave goods
Grave goods
Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body.They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods are a type of votive deposit...
. The bowls were either a type of unguent jar, or a toiletry "kohl cosmetic vessel". The desert sun or Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
floodwaters during inundation produced a need for facial-eye protection, using 'eyepaint' or eyeliner, when working in the flooded lands; theoretically it was also used by males. The creation of predynastic cosmetic palette
Cosmetic palette
The cosmetic palettes of middle to late predynastic Egypt are archaeological artifacts, originally used to grind and apply ingredients for facial or body cosmetics. The decorative palettes of the late 4th millennium BCE appear to have lost this function and became commemorative, ornamental, and...
s with their eyepaint 'mixing circle', may have been the start of the lineage of the kohl cosmetic artifacts.