Artworks

A superb example of a sculptor's model showing the head of a pharaoh, framed by the lappets of his nemes headdress which reveal his ears, and fall over his shoulders. His strikingly carved face is marked by an enigmatic smile, the slightly upturned corners of the mouth, combined with the subtle prominence of the eyebrow peaks, give it an expression that is both intriguing and captivating. Red paint remains in a thin layer over the face and eyes, the headdress undecorated. The work is of an unusually large size, and of great finesse. Small areas of infill to the top lip, behind the left ear, the left side of the neck and the top right corner of the headdress. 

Sculptor's models of statues and reliefs have been discovered in various find spots around Egypt. They were seemingly used either to train apprentice sculptors, or as preliminary designs for commissions. Although the oldest examples date from the Old Kingdom, most date from the Late and Ptolemaic periods. In general, the models consisted of limestone slabs sculpted in relief, and scale models of royal or private portraits. They provided the types, iconographic details, measurements and proportions for the draughtsman and sculptor, who had to reproduce them either on temple walls, in the decoration of architectural elements or in the representation of royal and private statues.

Provenance

Madame Desroches Noblecourt, France; acquired prior to 1940
D.P., Brussels, Belgium; acquired 2003-2024

Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, born on 17 November 1913 in Paris and died on 23 June 2011, was a French archaeologist specialising in Egyptology and curator general of the Egyptian antiquities department of the Louvre Museum.

Literature

Compare Nadja Samir Tumoum, The Sculptors' Models of the Late and Ptolemaic Periods (Cairo, 2006), no.28