NEW KINGDOM, 18TH DYNASTY, CIRCA 1550-1292 B.C.

Anthropoid coffins appear sporadically during the Middle Kingdom, but already by the New Kingdom they become the most common type of coffin, completely replacing their rectangular predecessors. The typical construction comprised of a mummiform coffin, intricately decorated with text and funerary scenes with Underworld deities, and an inner coffin or board made of wood or cartonnage to cover the mummy.

Carved in the style of mid-Dynasty 18, this exceptionally finely carved face from a coffin lid bears the hallmarks of the reign of Queen Hatshepsut: wide, slightly tilting open and lively eyes with large pupils, elongated inner canthi, elegantly arching eyebrows, and a pleasant smile with drilled corners of the mouth. The face closely resembles the Osiride pillars of Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir el-Bahri (compare for example Egyptian Museum inv. no. JE 56259 A and 56262), perhaps implying that this piece derived from the burial of an official of that reign. Remains of the blue and yellow striped headdress indicate the decoration of the remainder of the head, while a painted black chinstrap descends to the chin, underneath which a mortise is present for a beard, now missing. The red color of the face most likely indicates male gender of the coffin’s owner, though red skin is occasionally encountered in funerary depictions of females as well. Although coffins of elite members of society in Dynasty 18 frequently feature eyes inlaid in metal and stone, the quality of carving on this example implies that its owner was of equally high status.