Abstract
Miniature and model vessels represent a common component found in Old Kingdom tombs and cemeteries. They are to be found in cult places, in the fill of shafts and also in burial chambers.
They did not share the same functions and designations; for different purposes and matters, diverse kinds of material were purposefully chosen, and the shapes and usage of the model and miniature vessels differed in whether they were made of pottery, stone or copper. The origins of a systematic miniature and model vessel production are usually dated to the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty, although some examples of very small vessels occur even in the Predynastic Period.
The mass production of miniatures made in ceramics, followed by manufacture in stone and finally copper, is clearly traceable in all the major cemeteries of the pyramid fields of the Memphite necropolis. Although each individual material retains a specific typology, they seem to be interconnected chronologically.