Hairdressing and Nursing Scene
This limestone statuette, despite its small size (h: 7.1 cm), showcases a charming scene of sentimentality. A woman does the hair of another woman who is nursing a son. The delicate detailing gone into carving the plaited hair and the remnants of paint tells us what care went into creating this piece. Pigments of yellow and red and black paint remain. The women are in the usual yellow tone of Egyptian women, and the baby boy is in red as he nurses. It is uncertain who these people are, they could be a family unit; grandmother, daughter, grandson…or nurses taking care of a child while taking care of themselves at the same time with hairdressing. Wet-nursing was a practice for royalty and elites within Ancient Egypt.
Met Museum. 22.2.35
The piece has not been placed into an exact date. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, where this piece now resides, says the statuette dates from between the Middle and New Kingdom periods.
Summary:
Hairdressing and Nursing Scene
Middle Kingdom–Early New Kingdom, c. 1981–1500 B.C.
Limestone and paint.
Met Museum. 22.2.35
