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Practice Sketch or Votive Offering

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

The elaborate wig, aquiline nose, fastidious indication of fat folds on the neck, and elongated and downward-sloping eye all indicate that the king depicted here was one of the Ramesside rulers of Dynasty XIX or XX. The several discrepancies between the inked lines and the incisions suggest that the piece was a practice sketch for a wall relief or painting, but it may have also served as a temple offering to the king. Around the crown of the head is an intricate circlet consisting of two uraeus cobras affixed to the brow and side. These cobras were insignias of royalty.

MEDIUM Limestone, pigment
  • Possible Place Made: Thebes, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1295–1070 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 19 to Dynasty 20
    PERIOD New Kingdom
    DIMENSIONS 7 3/8 × 6 1/2 in. (18.8 × 16.5 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 16.54
    CREDIT LINE Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Limestone trial piece. Head and upper torso of king facing right. Uraeus, curled wig with diadem, neckline rounded at base. Below, clenched hand and, to right, and index finger. Black outlines visible around eyes, chin etc. Correction in drawing of entire profile. On reverse head of Anubis jackal, incised. Irregular form and certainly a trial piece. Condition: Upper portion of head lost. Numerous encrustations on surface.
    CAPTION Practice Sketch or Votive Offering, ca. 1295–1070 B.C.E. Limestone, pigment, 7 3/8 × 6 1/2 in. (18.8 × 16.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.54. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.16.54_wwg8.jpg)
    IMAGE installation, West Wing gallery 8 installation, CUR.16.54_wwg8.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2010
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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