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Bust of a pharaoh
Egyptian
Hellenistic Period (early Ptolemaic Dynasty)
304–246 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Limestone
Dimensions
Height x width x depth: 21.6 x 17.1 x 10.8 cm (8 1/2 x 6 3/4 x 4 1/4 in.)
Lender accessory: 2.5 x 18.5 x 9.5 cm (1 x 7 5/16 x 3 3/4 in.)
Lender accessory: 2.5 x 18.5 x 9.5 cm (1 x 7 5/16 x 3 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds from the Norma Jean and Stanford Calderwood Discretionary Fund, Norma Jean Calderwood Acquisition Fund, Egyptian Curator's Fund, Brian J. Brille Acquisition Fund for Ancient Egyptian Art, Miguel and Barbara de Bragança Fund, Mary E. Moore Gift, MFA Senior Associates and MFA Associates Fund for Egyptian Acquisitions, Barbara W. and Joanne A. Herman Fund for Egyptian Acquisitions, and the Ernest Kahn Fund
Accession Number2007.345
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsSculpture
DescriptionThis head is a sculptor's model of the Ptolemaic Period. It would have guided artists on how the official image of the king, probably of Ptolemy I or II should be rendered. Typical of the period, and particularly these models, are the idealizing features consisting of precisely carved, straight brows, almond-shaped eyes, and a sweet smile.
The king wears a royal headscarf known as a nemes, pharaonic iconography in use for the past 2,500 years. On his brow is a rectangle with vertical and horizontal lines incised on it, an unfinished representation of a uraeus, or divine cobra. Other perpendicular incised lines that would have aided in the reproduction of the head may be found on the top, proper right side, bottom, and flat back.
The king wears a royal headscarf known as a nemes, pharaonic iconography in use for the past 2,500 years. On his brow is a rectangle with vertical and horizontal lines incised on it, an unfinished representation of a uraeus, or divine cobra. Other perpendicular incised lines that would have aided in the reproduction of the head may be found on the top, proper right side, bottom, and flat back.
ProvenanceBy the 1960s or 1970s, Mrs. France Lucas, Geneva, Switzerland; June 14, 2000, anonymous ("Property from a Swiss Private Collection") sale, Sotheby's, New York, lot 199, to Alan Parker. 2007, sold by Rupert Wace Ancient Art, Ltd., London, to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 27, 2007)