Two Monkey Shaped Vases, 6th Dynasty

Two vases in the shape of a female monkey and its young
Left: Egyptian alabaster, reign of Merenre I (ca. 2255-2246 BCE)
Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915 (30.8.134)
Right: Egyptian alabaster, reign of Pepi I (ca. 2289-2255 BCE)
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, Fletcher Fund, and Lila Acheson Wallace,
Russell and Judy Carson, William Kelly Simpson, and Vaughn Foundatio Gifts, in honor of Henry George Fischer, 1992 (1992.338)

(From info card)
"This charming composition alludes to motherhood and fertility and also to the exotic lands that provided rare ingredients for the oils and unguents contained in these vases. The contents were presumably believed to have rejuvenating effects.

Inscriptions on these and similar vases suggest that the vessels were given by Sixth Dynasty kings to favored courtiers, particularily women, at the time of the king's jubilee."