Ancestral Bust of a Woman
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
Ancestral busts were kept in the home, perhaps used in rituals that helped maintain the deceased in the afterlife or allowed the living and dead to communicate. Both of these busts were made about the same time and demonstrate how even a cheaper pottery example could be exquisitely made and decorated, though clearly a painted limestone bust would have been more expensive to commission.
MEDIUM
Limestone, pigment
DATES
circa 1292–1190 B.C.E.
DYNASTY
Dynasty 19
PERIOD
New Kingdom
DIMENSIONS
10 1/4 x 6 1/8 x 3 3/4 in. (26 x 15.6 x 9.5 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
54.1
CREDIT LINE
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Painted limestone bust of a woman of “ancestral bust” type. Details of eyes probably were painted, ears pierced; lappet wig with traces of blue paint, surmounted by “modius” painted red. Remains of large painted necklace which covered most of body area, with red tie-string on reverse.
Condition: Paint largely lost. Rear of wig broken. Minor chips.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Ancestral Bust of a Woman, circa 1292–1190 B.C.E. Limestone, pigment, 10 1/4 x 6 1/8 x 3 3/4 in. (26 x 15.6 x 9.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 54.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 54.1_SL1.jpg)
IMAGE
front, 54.1_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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