LATE PERIOD, 30TH DYNASTY, 380-343 B.C.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN DIORITE HEAD OF AN OFFICIAL
LATE PERIOD, 30TH DYNASTY, 380-343 B.C.
Depicted under-lifesized, sculpted in idealizing style, with a high domed forehead and shaven egg-shaped skull, his face with narrow almond-shaped eyes, the lower lids cut in, the inner canthi pointed and angled downward, the modeled brows gently arching above, with prominent cheek bones, slightly compressed temples, and rounded thick lips pursed into a slight smile, the corners of the mouth indented, the remains of a back pillar partially preserved
7 ¼ in. (18.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Private Collection, New York, prior to January 1983; thence by descent to the current owner.

Lot Essay

A number of skillfully sculpted and superbly polished idealizing heads from 30th Dynasty share similar characteristics with the present head in that they present the individual with eternal youth and vigor. They are not true portraits in the sense of representing unique physiognomic traits, although all of them are slightly different from each other. The important official represented would only be identifiable by the accompanying inscription, here lost. For related heads see the example in red granite, formerly in Buffalo, no. 85 in B.V. Bothmer, Egyptian Sculpture of the Late Period, 700 B.C. to A.D 100.

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