Face from a Coffin

CultureEgyptian

PeriodMiddle Kingdom

Dateca. 1980-1760 BCE

MediumWood, gesso. paint, varnish

Credit LineGift of the Georges Ricard Foundation

Dimensions7 11/16 x 7 5/16 in. (19.5 x 18.5 cm)

Object number2018.010.257

Label TextThis face once belonged to a Middle Kingdom mummy-shaped coffin and was fixed to the lid by wooden dowels that fit into holes in the coffin lid. Remains of the wig frame the face. The face, painted Egyptian blue and covered with varnish, has darkened over time into a greenish-brown coating. The color green associated the owner with Osiris, symbolizing rebirth and vegetation.

The practice of varnishing polychrome Egyptian coffins began in the Middle Kingdom. Varnishing was associated with ritual actions undertaken on the coffin during mummification, in the workshop, or during anointing rites at the burial. The goal was to aid the preservation of the body and the transition of the dead into the afterlife as an Osiris.
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 68.

ProvenancePurchased by S.A.M. Sanousrit from Galerie Jacqueline Soisson, Nice, France, January 13, 1976. Ex coll. Musée de l'Égypte et le Monde Antique, Collection Sanousrit, Monaco, 1976-1982. Ex coll. Georges Ricard Foundation, Santa Barbara, California.

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Not on view

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