Plaster cast of a face

Within the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, there is a rather strange thing that doesn’t get much attention. It is what appears to be a true to life plaster cast death mask. This is not a mask made by an artist to represent a godlike image of the deceased, but an actual cast of the face. Much more surprising, however, is the fact that such a thing was found in the Funerary Temple of King Teti.

King Teti was the first king of Egypt’s Old Kingdom. So when we look at this plaster casting, are we looking at the face of the dead king? Could this be his actual likeness captured in a death mask? What are your thoughts?

A copy of the mask belongs to some other museums, including the British Museum, but unfortunately it is not on display there, yet below are two photographs of the facsimile (British Museum EA55304), the actual death mask itself is on display in the Egyptian Museum Cairo.