<em>Mummy Mask</em>, ca. 2500–2170 B.C.E. Plaster, Lips: 1 1/8 x 4 1/4 x 4 3/4 in. (2.9 x 10.8 x 12 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 48.183a-d. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 48.183_PS6.jpg)

Mummy Mask, ca. 2500–2170 B.C.E. Plaster, Lips: 1 1/8 x 4 1/4 x 4 3/4 in. (2.9 x 10.8 x 12 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 48.183a-d. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 48.183_PS6.jpg)

DOWNLOAD

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Are there known examples of actual casts, as opposed to carved images, as here?

I am not aware of any such tradition. In general, ancient Egyptian art has an idealizing goal. Therefore, a cast of someone's face would not be necessary for a "perfect" depiction of the individual.

That said, you can see different trends in idealized faces across time. The head of Hatshepsut that you sent has some distinctive facial features that can easily be contrasted with nearby images of Middle Kingdom kings, like Senwosret III, for example.

Thank you! I would assume that casts would be of dead...

You're welcome! I see what you mean. While the "death mask" is a tradition in other cultures, it was not a part of the Egyptian mummification process (or rather, pre-mummification ritual). Preparation for the afterlife is a time when idealization would be especially important! Interestingly, there is a plaster mask that was sculpted onto a wrapped mummy, it's on view in the Mummy Chamber. It was not cast directly from the person's face and the practice fell out of fashion.

Mummy Mask

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Funerary Gallery 2, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

MEDIUM Plaster

DATES ca. 2500–2170 B.C.E.

DYNASTY Dynasty 5 to Dynasty 6

PERIOD Old Kingdom

DIMENSIONS Lips: 1 1/8 x 4 1/4 x 4 3/4 in. (2.9 x 10.8 x 12 cm) Eye: 1 1/2 x 3 9/16 x 5 5/16 in. (3.8 x 9.1 x 13.5 cm) Forehead/Eye: 1 1/8 x 3 7/8 x 4 7/16 in. (2.8 x 9.8 x 11.3 cm) Cheek?: 13/16 x 3 1/8 x 4 3/16 in. (2 x 8 x 10.6 cm) 8 1/4 x 5 11/16 in. (21 x 14.5 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 48.183a-d

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

PROVENANCE Pit G 6014, shaft A, Mastaba, Giza, Egypt; 1948, excavated by Harvard University and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; 1948, purchased from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston by the Brooklyn Museum.

Provenance FAQ

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Funerary Gallery 2, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

CAPTION Mummy Mask, ca. 2500–2170 B.C.E. Plaster, Lips: 1 1/8 x 4 1/4 x 4 3/4 in. (2.9 x 10.8 x 12 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 48.183a-d. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 48.183_PS6.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 48.183_PS6.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2011

"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.

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Are there known examples of actual casts, as opposed to carved images, as here?

I am not aware of any such tradition. In general, ancient Egyptian art has an idealizing goal. Therefore, a cast of someone's face would not be necessary for a "perfect" depiction of the individual.

Thank you! I would assume that casts would be of dead...