Gilded Mask of a Boy

Possible OriginAlexandria, Egypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodRoman Imperial Period

Dateca. 25-140 CE

MediumCartonnage, gilding, copper, glass, paint

Credit LineGift of the Georges Ricard Foundation

Dimensions5 1/16 x 4 1/2 x 2 5/16 in., 144 g (12.8 x 11.5 x 5.8 cm, 5 1/16 oz.)

Object number2018.010.516

Label TextEgypt under Roman rule combined the tradition of Egyptian mummification with the Roman funerary custom of carrying a bust of the deceased in the procession to the tomb. This gilded face may have once been part of a mummy case. The cartonnage face mimics a young boy with chubby cheeks and a small mouth. The boy’s wide-open eyes are made of black and white glass and fringed with copper eyelashes. Black pigment delineates his brows and rims the eyes. The gilding represents wealth, and the owner as a divine being with golden skin.
Exhibition HistoryLife and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 4 - August 6, 2023
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, February 19, 2024 - Present
Published ReferencesHotel des Ventes du Prado, Marseille, Collection d'un Amateur: Archeologie - Objets de Fouilles (2 Decembre 1972), lot 178.
Melinda K. Hartwig, ed., Life and The Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2023), catalogue entry 74.

ProvenanceEx private collection. Purchased by Georges Ricard (1921-2012) from Hotel des Ventes du Prado, Marseille, France, December 2, 1972, lot 178. Ex coll. Musée de l'Égypte et le Monde Antique, Collection Sanousrit, Monaco, 1975-1982. Ex coll. Georges Ricard Foundation, Santa Barbara, California.

Status

On view

Collections