Unguent Spoon

"The cyathiscomele, a combination of olivary probe and elongated, narrow spoon, was used by Egyptians to apply cosmetic ointments and pigments, and was probably adopted by medical men for their own purposes. The spoon was used to withdraw medicinal powders and ointments from containers; the olivary (the oval enlargement) to mix and apply them. The olivary could be used, alternatively, in a manner similar to catalogue number 123 as a probe and cautery.

Numerous examples of the cyathiscomele have been found at sites throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. See Kunzel, p. 72, fig. 83, no. 4 (Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Trier), p. 91, fig. 69, nos. 2, 3 (Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn), p. 98, fig. 78 (Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn), p. 104, fig. 83, no. 6 (Museo Civico di Brescia), p. 123, fig. 97 (private collection); Tabanelli, pl. XXXVII (Museo Romano Germanico di Magonza); Milne, pp. 61-63, pls. XIV, 3, XV, 1." -Eunice Dauterman Maguire, Henry Maguire and Maggie J. Duncan-Flowers, Art and Holy Powers in the Early Christian House (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989), 204.

James, T.G.H. Excavating in Egypt: The Egypt Exploration Society 1882-1982. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982.

The British Museum. Antinoupolis at the British Museum Online Catalog. https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/research_projects/all_current_projects/antinoupolis.aspx

Griffith Institute Archives, University of Oxford. John de Monins Johnson photographic negatives. http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/gri/4johnson.html

Maguire, Eunice Dauterman, Henry Maguire and Maggie J. Duncan-Flowers. Art and Holy Powers in the Early Christian House. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989.