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A plaster bust of an Egyptian man, cast after a hard limestone bust of a man from 1400 BC–1300 BC, made late in the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt (the first dynasty of the New Kingdom) and now held at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. The piece was previously thought to be a woman or a representation of the goddess Isis, but it is now firmly believed to be a man. He wears a male duplex wig; the top and back of the wig have wavy strands of hair tied into ringlets at the ends, and these are superimposed over a second wig, entirely composed of ringlets which fall over the shoulders. The bust shows the ravages of time, areas of soft rock within the limestone have weathered away to produce a pitted appearance. The bust would have been highly polished and originally painted. On the reverse, hieroglyphics are inscribed.
Title
Bust of an Egyptian Man
Date
1900–1940
Medium
plaster
Measurements
H 30 x W 26 x D 15 cm
Accession number
1275316
Acquisition method
beqeathed as part of the Shaw Collection, 1950
Work type
Bust