ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Head from a Statuette of a Woman

Place CreatedEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodOld Kingdom, Dynasty 5 - Dynasty 6

Date2435-2152 BCE

MediumLimestone, pigment

Credit LineEgyptian Purchase Fund

Dimensions3 1/8 x 1 15/16 x 2 3/4 in. (7.9 x 5 x 7 cm)

Object number2000.011

Label TextIt was a popular practice in the Old Kingdom to place statues and statuettes in the tomb in case the ka, or spirit, of the deceased needed a home on earth. The mummified body usually served this purpose, but the Egyptians made additional images of themselves in case the body was destroyed. Rarely were these true portraits, but rather they were generic, idealized images.

This image represents a woman with an elaborate hairstyle still retaining traces of the original color. Egyptian women were traditionally painted yellow to denote pale skin from a life of indoor comfort, as opposed to the red skin of males, suggesting a tan from sports and labor outdoors.

The small scale of this head may also suggest that it came from a so-called servant statuette. These statuettes show people performing tasks for the deceased which first appear in tombs of the Old Kingdom. The Egyptians believed these servants could magically provide necessities for the spirit if offerings of food and other essentials ceased.
Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2001 - August 8, 2011
Life and Death in the Pyramid Age: The Emory Old Kingdom Mummy, Michael C. Carlos Museum, September 10 - December 11, 2011
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, February 2012 - Present
Published ReferencesSotheby's New York, Antiquities, December 17, 1998, 170, 194, lot 397
Royal-Athena Galleries, Art of the Ancient World Volume XI (2000), 45, number 112.
Peter Lacovara and Betsy Teasley Trope, The Realm of Osiris (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2001), 24.

ProvenanceEx Thetis Foundation Collection, Geneva, Switzerland. With Sotheby's New York, December 17, 1998, lot 397. Purchased by MCCM from Royal-Athena Galleries, New York, New York.

Status

On view

Collections