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Lot Essay
Once forming part of a composite statue, this red glass head displays the features of an early Ramesside king, either Ramesses I or Seti I. Traces of metal oxide on the sides of the head indicate that the face was most likely set into a bronze headdress, while the eyes and arched eyebrows are deeply recessed to receive inlays. A separately-made beard would have been attached through the mortise under the chin. The dark red color of the glass imitates jasper and denotes male identity. Heads of inlaid composite royal sculptures are known in both materials (for a red jasper example from the 18th Dynasty, see D. Wildung, The Red Pharaoh; for a glass example see the head and hands of a composite funerary figurine now at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 6, C. Lillyquist, The Tomb of the THree Foreign Wifes of Tuthmosis).
The production of red glass in particular is well documented from the excavation of workshops at Qantir/Piramesse, and it would appear that the Delta residence of the Ramesside line served as the source for this color of glass throughout the ancient Near East. For a discussion of red glass production, see T. Rehren and E.B. Pusch, “Glass and Glass Making at Qantir-Piramesse and Beyond,” Ägypten und Levante 9, pp. 171-179.
The production of red glass in particular is well documented from the excavation of workshops at Qantir/Piramesse, and it would appear that the Delta residence of the Ramesside line served as the source for this color of glass throughout the ancient Near East. For a discussion of red glass production, see T. Rehren and E.B. Pusch, “Glass and Glass Making at Qantir-Piramesse and Beyond,” Ägypten und Levante 9, pp. 171-179.