Egypt, late Third Intermediate to early Late Dynastic Period, ca. 7th to 6th century BCE. A lovely limestone bust of an imposing pharaoh. He stares forward with faint facial details and protruding ears under a nemes headdress, with the traces of a uraeus on the brow. The face is framed by the striated sides of the headdress, and the lappets hang down to rest on the broad shoulders. The verso of the head is well defined with striations and part of the nemes hanging down the center of his spine. Despite the head's uneven line across the chest, this bust may have been created as a standalone object rather than a piece from a larger statue. It is indefinite who this model was meant to represent, though the refined quality and sophisticated presentation indicates it was likely a pharaoh of this period. Similar pieces are held in the British Museum, the Australian Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and many other institutions. Such busts may have been models for apprentices to practice this craft. Size: 4.75" W x 5.25" H (12.1 cm x 13.3 cm); 6" H (15.2 cm) on included custom stand.

A carved head like this example may have served as a model for a larger sculpture, to teach apprentice sculptors how to replicate a master style, or to produce ushabti figures (small funerary statues for tombs). Though sculptors' models are typically difficult to date - with some being from the Amarna period of the 18th Dynasty when new forms of statuary came in - most known examples are from the Late Dynastic and Ptolemaic periods. The Egyptians were keen observers of fauna, with many different animals gracing their mythology, artwork, and hieroglyphs; however, anthropomorphic models were typically among the most challenging to carve accurately.

While sculptors' models appear to be from larger composite figures, their incomplete presentation could be an entirely separate item typology. Ancient Greek sculptural incompleteness was a generic form of presentation as the viewer could extrapolate who or what a sculpture was meant to represent. In contrast, the ancient Egyptians would view an incomplete votive work of art only as it was: part of a bird, a disembodied head, or in one instance the hind quarters of a lion. According to Eric Young of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "When we consider the Egyptian pieces as sculptors' models, however, their incompleteness is no longer disturbing, but entirely understandable. As is the case with unquestioned sculptors' models...the apprentice sculptor concentrated his energies on those portions of the figure that he found intriguing, or most difficult, and the master sculptor demonstrated the correct way to delineate a head…" ("Sculptors' Models or Votives? In Defense of a Scholarly Tradition." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, March 1964, p. 255).

This piece has been searched against the Art Loss Register database and has been cleared. The Art Loss Register maintains the world’s largest database of stolen art, collectibles, and antiques.

Provenance: private New York, USA collection; ex-private collection, acquired in the 1960s and imported to the United States in the late 1980s

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#164985

Fragment of a larger piece as shown. Loss and abrasions to left side of headdress. Softening and weathering of details. Light mineral and earthen deposits.