Very fine palette made from a piece of alabaster carved in rectangular shape with rounded corners and a small triangular tab emerging from one of the short ends. The surface is smooth, and the pale stone is so thin as to be translucent.
Pre Dynastic stone palettes were used on both faces for grinding materials like malachite with a small polished pebble to make cosmetics such as eye paint. They are found in plain geometric forms, such as this example, as well as stylized animals. (Reference: Joan Crowfoot Payne, Catalogue of the Pre Dynastic Egyptian Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Clarendon Press, 1993, pg. 222)
Condition: Intact and in excellent condition with no chips or cracks. Museum accession number 59.310 applied in black pigment along edge.
Dimensions: Length 5 inches (12.7 centimeters), Width 2.5 inches (6.5 centimeters)
Provenance: Deaccessioned from The Heckscher Museum of Art, Long Island, NY., ex. Robert Rustafjaell collection, acquired prior to 1909.
