 Figured Ostracon Showing a Cat Waiting on a Mouse Limestone,pigment, 3 1/2 x 6 13/16 x 7/16 in. (8.9 x 17.3 x 1.1 cm) New Kingdom, XIX Dynasty-XX Dynasty, ca. 1295-1070 B.C.E. From Thebes, Egypt Brooklyn #37.51E, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund Photo © Joan Lansberry, May 2008-2016 |
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"An ostracon is a piece of pottery (or stone), usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel," Wiki explains. Ancient Egyptians made use of this cheap surface for a variety of purposes. "The subject matter varies greatly, and, without record of context or in instances of secondary deposition, function is often difficult to ascertain; often figured ostraca are interpreted as evidence for the training of artists, as in Deir el-Medina and the Ramesseum, but this is not made explicit by context or by accompanying writing." (Digitalegypt.ucl.uk)) Flinders Petrie turned up many ostraca, "most are probably from Thebes." The Brooklyn Museum example is from Thebes, as is one now at the Metropolitan Museum:
This sketch of Senenmut, one of Hatshepsut's most trusted officials, is clearly a practice piece, showing the grid lines artists used to keep proportions correct, and "may have been used as a guide for the decoration of one of his monuments."
The Brooklyn ostracon seems more complete in itself, and is perhaps one of the worlds earliest cartoons.
(From the info card) |
