An Egyptian PreDynastic Double Bird Head Palette, Naqada II. ca. 3500–3300 BCE
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This wedge-shaped cosmetic palette is carved from green-greywacke, a hard stone favored in Predynastic Egypt for objects associated with cosmetic preparation. The palette has softly rounded corners and a gently tapering form, with the narrow end rounded and the broader end originally decorated with a pair of bird heads facing outward. Only one head now survives. It projects slightly from the outline of the palette with an incised eye and half of the beak cut out, the remainder marked by a deep groove. The palette is perforated by a string-hole in the center beneath the heads, allowing it to be suspended or secured. An early inscription on the reverse reads “Drah-Abool-Neggeh, Thebes,” identifying the recorded find spot as Drah Abu el-Naga, an important necropolis on the west bank of ancient Thebes.
Palettes of this type were used during the Predynastic period to grind minerals such as malachite and galena into pigments for eye paint. The powdered cosmetic was applied around the eyes for both aesthetic effect and practical protection against glare and infection. The bird-form palette was one of three types the Egyptians favored; the birds were often displayed in pairs, with their heads always facing away from one another. The pairing could simply be a symmetrical arrangement of two animals or could indicate a mating pair (as seen in late Old Kingdom reliefs). Another theory is that animal pairs are an early representation of the concept of duality that was widespread throughout Egyptian history and culture (Patch, p. 40)
Ref: Patch, Diana Craig, Dawn of Egyptian Art, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012, pg 40. Petrie, W.M.F., Prehistoric Egypt with Corpus of Prehistoric Pottery and Palettes, London, 1920, pl. LVI, nos. 65-67.
Published: Ede, "Antiquities" Catalog 129, object #50
Medium: Green greywacke
Dimensions: Height: 7 1/4 inches (18.4 cm), Width: 3 3/8 inches (8.5 cm)
Condition: One bird head now lost, with minor chips along the edges of the palette. Otherwise in good condition overall, showing surface wear from ancient use.
Provenance: Thilo and Izora Steinschulte private collection, VA, acquired in 1983 from Charles Ede Ltd., London. Ex Pitt-Rivers Collection, and marked as being found at Drab Abool Neggeh/Thebes, then by descent. Accompanied by a copy of the original collector’s notes, dealer invoice and publication.
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