Artist:EgyptianNubian
Medium: Bronze
Geograhical Locations:
Dates:ca. 712–653 B.C.E.
Dimensions: 4 13/16 x 1 1/8 x 1 3/4 in. (12.2 x 2.8 x 4.5 cm)
Collections:
Museum Location: 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
Exhibitions:
Accession Number: 81.184
Image: CUR.81.184_wwg8.jpg,West Wing gallery 8 installation
Catalogue Description: Bronze figure of a king represented striding with his left leg forward. The left arm is extended slightly before the left thigh with the hand held palm open and at a right angle to the body. The right arm, of which only the upper portion is preserved, would have been held in the elbow in the same position, or equally possible, bent at the elbow with the forearm and hand raised. In the latter instance, the right hand may have held a ritual vessel, and there are other bronzes of Kushite kings in such a pose. However, as the other arm of those figures is normally held at the side with the hand forming a fist, it may be more likely that our bronze has both hands in the position of the left hand to "hold" some cult instrument now missing. Such a pose would appear to be otherwise unattested in royal Kushite figures of bronze. The king wears a close-fitting cap adorned with concentric circles and, on the back of the neck, the wings of a falcon. A diadem encircles the cap, and two ribbons hang from the rear of the diadem. Two cobras, with hoods spread, rise from the front of the diadem, and their bodies coil over the crown of the head to descend over the rear of the diadem. The king also wears a broad-collar necklace and a shendyt-kilt. The figure strides atop a small, rectangular base-plate with the remains of a single tang descending from the bottom. Condition: Right arm missing from just above the elbow. There is a large gash running across the left breast (just above the nipple) over onto the left shoulder. There is also a small nick on the right cheek and pitting in several areas (most notably the ears, one of the uraei, the arms, the rear of the kilt and the inside of the upper thighs). The tip of the nose shines from rubbing; the base-plate is warped. The bottom of the base is marked by lumps of corrosion and the remains of an adhesive.