This charming little vessel, created from faience, was used to hold kohl, the dark cosmetic paste with which the ancient Egyptians lined their eyes. Since the earliest days of Egyptian culture, men and women both adorned their eyes with ground powders mixed with resins and tallow. In addition to making the eyes seem larger and more luminous, kohl helped protect vision from the desert glare. This small pot may once have adorned the dressing table of a lovely woman. We can imagine her picking it up in her hands as we do today, smiling into her silver-coated mirror as she enhanced her beauty with its contents. Such an object, used daily, puts us in intimate touch with the vanished world from which it comes.