Lot 3
**First Time At Auction**
Egypt, Late Dynastic to Ptolemaic Periods, ca. 664 to 30 BCE. A striking youthful male head of royal lineage, carved from a warm red hued stone, perhaps created as a sculptor's model or trial piece. The idealistic face is defined by slender almond-shaped eyes with thick lids and cosmetic trails extending from each corner. Upon his head is a khepresh headdress with the remains of an uraeus (coiled cobra) at the center. The khepresh, also known as the blue or war crown, was royal headgear that was ceremonial and perhaps symbolic of military achievement. Faces of kings in the round were popular during this period, and this particular piece may have been a model or "trial-piece" for the sculptor to practice or study before starting a final piece. Size: 5" L x 3.5" W x 6.5" H (12.7 cm x 8.9 cm x 16.5 cm); 11" H (27.9 cm) on included custom stand.
A carved head like this example may have served as a model for a larger sculpture, to teach apprentice sculptors how to replicate a master style, or to produce ushabti figures (small funerary statues for tombs). Though sculptors' models are typically difficult to date - with some being from the Amarna period of the 18th Dynasty when new forms of statuary came in - most known examples are from the Late Dynastic and Ptolemaic periods. The Egyptians were keen observers of fauna, with many different animals gracing their mythology, artwork, and hieroglyphs; however, anthropomorphic models were typically among the most challenging to carve accurately.
While sculptors' models appear to be from larger composite figures, their incomplete presentation could be an entirely separate item typology. Ancient Greek sculptural incompleteness was a generic form of presentation as the viewer could extrapolate who or what a sculpture was meant to represent. In contrast, the ancient Egyptians would view an incomplete votive work of art only as it was: part of a bird, a disembodied head, or in one instance the hind quarters of a lion. According to Eric Young of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "When we consider the Egyptian pieces as sculptors' models, however, their incompleteness is no longer disturbing, but entirely understandable. As is the case with unquestioned sculptors' models...the apprentice sculptor concentrated his energies on those portions of the figure that he found intriguing, or most difficult, and the master sculptor demonstrated the correct way to delineate a head
" ("Sculptors' Models or Votives? In Defense of a Scholarly Tradition." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, March 1964, p. 255).
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Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection, acquired 2000 to 2010; ex-Tom Richard Cavanaugh collection, Boothbay Harbor, Maine, USA, acquired before 1980
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#177426
- Condition: Losses and chips throughout as shown, losses to right cheek, uraeus, and earlobes. Great preservation to facial details.
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| $300 | $999 | $50 |
| $1,000 | $1,999 | $100 |
| $2,000 | $4,999 | $250 |
| $5,000 | $9,999 | $500 |
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| $100,000 | $199,999 | $10,000 |
| $200,000 + | $20,000 |