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.  We have also a young girl in the Louvre collection, but she stands in a maze of lotus plants (fig. 250), and is in the act of gathering a bud.  A bunch of stems, from which emerge two full-blown blossoms, unites the handle to the bowl of the spoon, which is in reverse position, the larger end being turned outwards and the point inwards.  Elsewhere, a young girl (fig. 251) playing upon a long-necked lute as she trips along, is framed in by two flowering stems.  Sometimes the fair musician is standing upright in a tiny skiff (fig. 252); and sometimes a girl bearing offerings is substituted for the lute player.  Another example represents a slave toiling under the weight of an enormous sack.  The age and physiognomy of each of these personages is clearly indicated.  The lotus gatherer is of