Stone palettes were used since Egypt’s Predynastic Period to grind and mix pigments used as cosmetics and body paint, or to paint ceramics. Over time, heavily decorated and purely ceremonial palettes began to be made as well, the most famous being the Narmer Palette. This palette here takes the shape of an antelope. One of its horns is broken off.
Predynastic. ca. 3300-2960 BC
Medium: Slate.
Provenance: Eastern Delta, al-Mansoura.
