o which the fancy of the designer
gave all kinds of ingenious and novel forms, would be no light task. The
handles of mirrors, for instance, generally represented a stem of lotus or
papyrus surmounted by a full-blown flower, from the midst of which rose a
disk of polished metal. For this design is sometimes substituted the figure
of a young girl, either nude, or clad in a close-fitting garment, who holds
the mirror on her head. The tops of hair-pins were carved in the semblance
of a coiled serpent, or of the head of a jackal, a dog, or a hawk. The pin-
cushion in which they are placed is a hedgehog or a tortoise, with holes
pierced in a formal pattern upon the back. The head-rests, which served for
pillows, were decorated with bas-reliefs of subjects derived from the myths
of Bes and Sekhet, the grimacing features of the former deity being carved
on the ends or on the base. But it is in the carving of perfume-spoons and
kohl-bottles that the inventive skill of the craftsman is most brilliantly
displayed.

[Illustration: Fig. 246.--Spoon.]

[Illustration: Fig. 247.--Spoon.]

[Illustration: Fib. 248.--Spoon.]

[Illustration: Fig. 249.--Spoon.]

[Illustration: Fig. 250.--Spoon.]

[Illustration: Fig. 251.--Spoon.]

[Illustration: Fig. 252.--Spoon.]

[Illustration: Fig. 253.--Spoon.]

Not to soil their fingers the Egyptians made use of spoons for essences,
pomades, and the variously-coloured preparations with which both men and
women stained their cheeks, lips, eyelids, nails, and palms. The designer
generally borrowed his subjects from the fauna or flora of the Nile valley.
A little case at Gizeh is carved in the shape of a couchant calf, the body
being hollowed out, and the head and back forming a removable lid. A spoon
in the same collection represents a dog running away with an enormous fish
in his mouth (fig. 246), the body of the fish forming the bowl of the
spoon. Another shows a cartouche springing from a full-blown lotus;
another, a lotus fruit laid upon a bouquet of flowers (fig. 247); and here
is a simple triangular bowl, the handle decorated with a stem and two buds
(fig. 248). The most elaborate specimens combine these subjects with the
human figure. A young girl, clad in a mere girdle, is represented in the
act of swimming (fig. 249). Her head is well lifted above the water, and
her outstretched arms support a duck, the body of which is hollowed out,
while the wings, being movable, serve as a cover. W