Lot 9
Ancient Egypt, Ptolemaic, ca. 305 to 30 BCE. A carved wooden mummy mask with a gilded face and gesso-painted details. The face wears a bulbous headdress painted in alternating, brightly-colored bands of red, yellow, and blue. The face is classically Egyptian, with characteristic huge almond-shaped eyes, painted white and outlined in heavy black pigment with thick eyebrows; a diminutive nose, rounded chin and cheeks, and a petite mouth outlined in umber. The flat back displays several drilled dowel holes, and is unpainted and uncarved with a natural recess in the middle. Lucite display stand for photography purposes only. Size: 7.75" W x 8.125" H (19.7 cm x 20.6 cm).
The mask was an essential part of the mummy, placed over the head to provide an idealized image of the deceased as they would be resurrected. This mask and others like it were traditionally carved from cedar. Interestingly, cedar wood was not native to Egypt. Egypt did not have verdant forests filled with tall trees, and unfortunately most of its native lumber was of relatively poor quality. So they relied on importing to acquire hardwoods - ebony imported from Africa, cedar and pine from Lebanon. One fabulous obelisk inscription by Thutmose III attests to the luxury of treasured hardwoods. It reads as follows, "They brought to me the choicest products . . . consisting of cedar, juniper and of meru wood . . . all the good sweet woods of God's Land." (Obelisk inscription by Thutmose III - J. H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Two, p. 321)
Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection
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#133217
- Condition: Surface wear commensurate with age, small losses to top of headdress as well as around peripheries, some chipping to gilded surfaces, with light fading and discoloration to painted details, otherwise excellent. Light earthen deposits on verso. Fragments of original dowels remain on verso. Beautiful gilding and pigmentation remains across obverse side.
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