Head of a Queen
1 of 2
Object Label
The vulture was associated with several important goddesses. This sculpture depicts a so-called vulture cap: the bird’s oval body sits at the top of the wearer’s head and its outspread wings sweep down beside the face. The vulture’s tail is indicated in back, but its head has been replaced by a royal uraeus-cobra over the forehead. A queen would have worn such a headdress on top of a voluminous wig.
The head shows some of the Middle Kingdom influence that is so pronounced in early Eighteenth Dynasty art under Ahmose and Amunhotep I. Other details—such as the shapes of the eyes and eyebrows—indicate that the head was carved later, to represent either the wife of King Thutmose III or his mother, Queen Isis.
Caption
Head of a Queen, ca. 1479–1425 B.C.E.. Quartzite, 10 13/16 x 12 3/16 x 10 3/16 in. (27.5 x 31 x 25.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 65.134.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.65.134.3_erg2.jpg)
Title
Head of a Queen
Date
ca. 1479–1425 B.C.E.
Dynasty
Dynasty 18
Period
New Kingdom
Geography
Place made: Egypt
Medium
Quartzite
Classification
Dimensions
10 13/16 x 12 3/16 x 10 3/16 in. (27.5 x 31 x 25.8 cm)
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
65.134.3
Rights
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.
Frequent Art Questions
Why are the nose often damaged in the Egyptian sculptures? Why would they make the nose then turn around and break it?
Well the person who made the sculpture is often not the same person who defaces it. For example, a tomb robber might remove the nose of a statue to keep the person's soul from exacting revenge on them.It usually happens much later in the life of the statue. For example, it was popular to deface statues and depictions of unpopular or heretical rulers after their reign like Akhenaten or Hatshepsut.Tell me more about her headdress.
This sculpture shows a queen wearing a vulture headdress. The vulture headdress was associated with several goddesses and queens were often shown wearing it as well.in addition to this queen. It symbolized traits like maternal protection.As an example, Nekhbet, a protective goddess of the White Crown of Upper Egypt, was often shown as a vulture. The mother goddess, Mut, was also symbolized by a vulture, and the hieroglyph for her name was even a vulture!Did ancient Egyptians where head coverings = all the time? Are these people wearing head coverings? What are they made out of?
The quick answer is no. You'll see in our galleries a few sculptures that depict men with bald heads too. In the first sculpture you photographed, she is wearing a vulture headdress, which is a symbol of maternal protection and associated with goddesses and queens, over her hair.The second sculpture simply wears a thick hairstyle. This may have been a wig made from hair (the finest examples, of course, were human), or his own hair with the addition of extensions.Headdresses, in ancient Egyptian art can be a helpful indicator of rank or identity. Hairstyles can even help us date artworks based on when certain styles were in fashion.Interesting -- thank you!Who is the lady in this sculpture?
Without an inscription, we aren't sure of her name. We can tell that she is a queen by her vulture headdress. The style of her face suggests that this was carved in the first half of the 18th Dynasty. She may represent the mother of the king Thutmose III whose name was Isis.Info please.
The vulture headdress over a voluminous wig is what identifies this head as belonging to a royal woman. The headdress is a symbol of maternal protection and divinity that began as an attribute of the goddess Nekhbet, the protector of Upper Egypt.Where is this piece from?
We know for sure it was made in Egypt around 1479 to 1425 BCE based on the style. There isn't a specific find location noted in our records.
Have information?
Have information about an artwork? Contact us at