Cosmetic Set

Of the numerous facet-cut cosmetic flasks known from the eastern Mediterranean in the early Islamic Middle Ages and to a lesser extent in Iran, this set is indisputably the finest. It consists of a flask on an attached boat-shaped base and a square tray which may have been used as a palette for grinding kohl. The boat shape may allude to the import of precious cosmetics, oils and pastes by sea from distant lands.