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Source Description

The cosmetic vessel consists of a hedgehog shaped body on a small rectangular plinth, a neck with large lip, and a handle on top of the animal's back. The prickly body of this hedgehog is shown by a cross-hatched pattern. The eyes and the markings on the body have been added in a brownish-black glaze. The head has a long extended snout, slightly protruding eyes, as well as large ears that set up attentively, and with vertical line hatching. The protruding fringe above the forehead is also accentuated with black color. Perfume of cosmetic containers in the shape of a hedgehogs became common during the 6th and 5th century BCE, and were probably invented in the Greek colony of Naukratis and the Western Delta region of Egypt. However, hedgehog representation on ships, and hedgehog statuettes were common in ancient Egypt from the 3rd millennium BCE. His body armor symbolized protection, and in addition he was seen as one of the sun gods special animals.

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
77940
label
Aryballos in the Form of a Hedgehog
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
3
Source metadata
id
77940
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Aryballos in the Form of a Hedgehog
description
The cosmetic vessel consists of a hedgehog shaped body on a small rectangular plinth, a neck with large lip, and a handle on top of the animal's back. The prickly body of this hedgehog is shown by a cross-hatched pattern. The eyes and the markings on the body have been added in a brownish-black glaze. The head has a long extended snout, slightly protruding eyes, as well as large ears that set up attentively, and with vertical line hatching. The protruding fringe above the forehead is also accentuated with black color. Perfume of cosmetic containers in the shape of a hedgehogs became common during the 6th and 5th century BCE, and were probably invented in the Greek colony of Naukratis and the Western Delta region of Egypt. However, hedgehog representation on ships, and hedgehog statuettes were common in ancient Egypt from the 3rd millennium BCE. His body armor symbolized protection, and in addition he was seen as one of the sun gods special animals.
provenance
Parvin Collection, Alan Krammer, Chicago [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [the collection was formed in the 1960s-70s, and disbanded in the early 1980s]; Dr. John Winnie Collection, St. Mary's, Georgia, 1990s [mode of acquisition unknown]; Mele Gallery, Westport, Connecticut, 2007, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 2009, by purchase.
date
6th-5th century BCE (Late Period)
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Ceramics
aryballoi
imageCount
3
pageCount
3
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
6.2
height
7.5
depth
4.8
dimensionsRaw
2 7/16 x 2 15/16 x 1 7/8 in. (6.2 x 7.5 x 4.8 cm)
Source extras
cul
Ptolemaic
med
faience, blue-green glaze with brownish-black details
creator_ids
16251
collection_ids
GRC
EGY
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
3156418f061df44c
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
a5c8749bbd6cc0c8
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
af23b06058476325
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no