<em>Inlay Figure of a King in Four Pieces</em>, 305–30 B.C.E. Glass, gold leaf, 5 9/16 x 2 3/8 x 5/16 in. (14.1 x 6 x 0.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 49.61.1-.4. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 49.61.1-.4_SL1.jpg)

Inlay Figure of a King in Four Pieces, 305–30 B.C.E. Glass, gold leaf, 5 9/16 x 2 3/8 x 5/16 in. (14.1 x 6 x 0.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 49.61.1-.4. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 49.61.1-.4_SL1.jpg)

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

What were these used for?

These are inlays, they would have been set into surfaces (like on a wall or on a coffin) as decoration.

The falcon head, though, is actually from a piece of jewelry! You can tell because it is rimmed in gold unlike the others.

It's a terminal for a broad collar (there is a big blue broad collar on view at the other end of the gallery). Attached at the bottom, would have been the beads, and above its head would have been the clasp or closure for the necklace.

Thanks!

Inlay Figure of a King in Four Pieces

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

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

Glass inlays like this were used to decorate shrines or cartonnages. When forming part of the decoration of a cartonnage, they were pressed directly into the outer coat of plaster while it was still wet. This inlay probably formed part of the decorative pattern of a box, a piece of furniture, or an item of funerary equipment. The bright colors not only enhanced the appearance of the object but had symbolic significance as well.

MEDIUM Glass, gold leaf

Place Made: Egypt

DATES 305–30 B.C.E.

PERIOD Early Ptolemaic Period

DIMENSIONS 5 9/16 x 2 3/8 x 5/16 in. (14.1 x 6 x 0.8 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 49.61.1-.4

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Upper half of opaque glass inlay figure of king wearing Crown of Lower Egypt and facing right. Made in separate pieces. Crown (.1) of dark purple–blue glass with remains of gilding. Head (.2) in dark red glass, highly polished, imitating jasper. Band between forehead and crown yellow glass. Torso (.3) with right arm raised of same glass as head. Of the necklace only part of the lowest row survives. This is of green and black (?) mosaic glass. Unplaced fragment (.4) in blue glass probably is from another row in the necklace. Condition: Traces of gold leaf on crown. Right hand lost. Necklace incomplete.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view on the 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

CAPTION Inlay Figure of a King in Four Pieces, 305–30 B.C.E. Glass, gold leaf, 5 9/16 x 2 3/8 x 5/16 in. (14.1 x 6 x 0.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 49.61.1-.4. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 49.61.1-.4_SL1.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 49.61.1-.4_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

"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.

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

What were these used for?

These are inlays, they would have been set into surfaces (like on a wall or on a coffin) as decoration.

The falcon head, though, is actually from a piece of jewelry! You can tell because it is rimmed in gold unlike the others.

Thanks!