Part of an Atef Crown

Possible OriginThebes, Egypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodLate Period

Date722-332 BCE

MediumBronze

Credit LineGift of the Georges Ricard Foundation

Dimensions15 3/16 x 6 11/16 x 15/16 in., 1600 g (38.5 x 17 x 2.4 cm, 3 lb. 8 7/16 oz.)

Object number2018.010.102

Label TextThis bronze plume and ram’s horn once came from the left side of an Atef-crown, likely worn by the god of the underworld, Osiris. The element is composed of a horizontal corkscrew horn and a uraeus with a sun disk to the side of a plume. Recessed areas on the cobra’s body were once filled with colored paste. Two tenons on the right side of the plume once fit into the central miter of the crown. The size of the crown attachment suggests it was once part of a large statue over 51″ (129.5 cm) high. Similar large plumes were found along with small bronze figurines of Osiris at the temple of Amun at ancient Hibis in the Kharga Oasis.
Exhibition HistoryLife and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 4 - August 6, 2023
Published ReferencesMelinda K. Hartwig, ed., Life and The Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2023), catalogue entry 45.

ProvenanceEx coll. Georges Ricard Foundation, Santa Barbara, California, possibly purchased from Jean-François Mignon, Aix-en Provence, France.

Status

Not on view

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