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Paint Box of Vizier Amenemope
Unknown maker (Egypt), c. 1427–1401 BCE
This paint box was made in Egypt more than 3,000 years ago, around 1427 to 1401 BCE, in the reign of Amenhotep II. The Cleveland Museum of Art says it has five pots of colour, each made from a different mineral. Conservators identified the pigments using X-ray diffraction, which shows what minerals a colour is made of.
The box belonged to a man named Amenemope, who advised the pharaoh. He probably used it for fun, and it may have been buried with him. The inscription is inlaid in Egyptian blue, a pigment made from minerals that was widely used in ancient Egypt.
The box is tiny, only about 21 centimetres long and 2 centimetres thick. It is a rare, direct link to how artists worked at the time.
From the museum record
| Artist | Unknown maker (Egypt) |
|---|---|
| Date | c. 1427–1401 BCE |
| Medium | Boxwood with inscription inlaid in egyptian blue |
| Size | Overall: 2.2 x 21 x 3.6 cm |
| Museum | The Cleveland Museum of Art |
| Credit line | Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust |
| Accession number | 1914.680 |
| Licence | Open Access (CC0) |
Source: The Cleveland Museum of Art collection record. Facts such as dates, sizes and credit lines come from that record. The write-up above was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the museum record and standard references. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
