Skip Navigation

Face of a King

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor
Several details indicate that this fragmentary head represents a king. The long back of the headdress and the side pieces that almost encircle the ear probably belong to the tall White Crown of Upper Egypt. The line running down from the point of the chin can only be a royal beard. Although similar in style to representations of both Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, this statue’s nose is smaller and straighter and the brow is more evenly curved, indicating a slightly later date. Thus the subject is most likely Thutmose IV, grandson and namesake of Thutmose III.
MEDIUM Limestone
  • Possible Place Collected: Thebes (Karnak), Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1400-1390 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 18
    PERIOD New Kingdom
    DIMENSIONS 6 11/16 x 4 9/16 in. (17 x 11.7 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 87.1
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Possibly a representation of Thutmose IV. One limestone fragment of a royal relief showing the head of a king facing left. Condition: One horizontal line of major abrasion across entire surface and traces of abrasion elsewhere.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor
    CAPTION Face of a King, ca. 1400-1390 B.C.E. Limestone, 6 11/16 x 4 9/16 in. (17 x 11.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 87.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.87.1_erg456.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, CUR.87.1_erg456.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 9/6/2007
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.