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Face from a Composite Statue

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

The exceptional quality of modeling on this face sets it apart from most bronze statues of this size. The traces of gilding, which suggest a divine visage, and the remains of inlaid eyes are mere hints of its original splendor.

The shape of the fragment indicates that this hollow cast face was produced separately, perhaps for a composite statue. However, the shape of the neck is reminiscent of human-headed attachments for processional barks, which held divine images during temple festivals.
MEDIUM Bronze, stone?, gold
  • Place Made: Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1075–656 B.C.E.
    PERIOD Third Intermediate Period
    DIMENSIONS 1 5/8 x 2 1/16 x 2 13/16 in. (4.1 x 5.3 x 7.2 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 16.198
    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 Bronze face, probably of a king (or queen?) from a composite statuette. Originally overlaid with gold. Inlaid eyes. Condition: Faint traces of gold remained in places. Gold inlay remains in eyebrows. Upper right section of face missing. Surface broken.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Face from a Composite Statue, ca. 1075–656 B.C.E. Bronze, stone?, gold, 1 5/8 x 2 1/16 x 2 13/16 in. (4.1 x 5.3 x 7.2 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, 16.198. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 16.198_front_PS2.jpg)
    IMAGE front, 16.198_front_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2009
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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