hair

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...

Golden diadem

Golden diadem and hair ornaments belonging to Lady Senebtisi

Golden diadem and hair ornaments belonging to Lady Senebtisi (daughter of Apis, Lady of the House)Middle Kingdom, 12th Dynasty, c. 1859–1770 B.C.Burial spot discovered within Vizier Senwosret’s (vizier under Senwosret I) funerary complex, el-Lisht, Egypt. Unfortunately, since the discovery of her tomb in 1907, little has been discovered about Lady Senebtisi, but she lives on...

Serving girl cosmetic box

Serving girl cosmetic box

This wooden figure of a girl holding a trunk upon her head is actually a cosmetic box. The trunk the girl holds upon her head, would be filled with cosmetics of the owner’s choice, most likely pigments for make up, including eyeshadow and rouge for cheeks. The piece dates from the 18th Dynasty, of Ancient...

Statue of Lady Kemtet

Lady Kemtet

This painted wooden statuette is of a woman named Lady Kemtet. It dates from around 1900-1802 B.C., making it a Middle Kingdom piece from around the middle of the 12th Dynasty. The statuette was discovered at the Faiyum Entrance Area of Cemetery B, Tomb 262, in Harageh, Egypt. The inscription upon the base writes as...

Gold faced Egyptian mummy

Gold faced Egyptian mummy

This mummy of a woman has a gilded, golden face and a wig of human hair adorned upon her head. Unfortunately, not much is known about this woman, only her head remains. Discovered in Egypt, bequeathed by (Major) Robert Grenville ‘John’ Gayer-Anderson, the head of the unknown woman now resides at The Fitzwilliam Museum, in...

A false fringe of human hair in pin curl ringlet style. Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. 1901.40.56

A false fringe of human hair in pin curl ringlet style

A false fringe of human hair in pin curl ringlet styleEarly Dynastic Period, 1st Dynasty,Excavated by Sir Flinders Petrie from the tomb of king Djer (also known as Zer or Sekhty), Tomb O, Umm el-Qa’ab, Abydos, Egypt. Wigs were composed of various materials such as human hair, wool, plant fibers, and horsehair. The most expensive...

Ancient Egyptian Nobleman

Ancient Egyptian Nobleman

This relief shows a beautiful, delicately carved depiction of an unknown Ancient Egyptian Nobleman, dating from the 19th or 20th Dynasty. It is believed that this fragment may have come from a tomb in Saqqara. With the lingering of the Amarna Period artistic revolution still in memory, the Egyptian need to forget the reign of...

Mummified head of a woman from Thebes

Mummified head of a woman from Thebes

Mummified head of a woman (momie de femme), discovered at Thebes in 1799. She dates from between the New Kingdom Period and Late Period (when the last Native rulers of Ancient Egypt held power), c.1550 – 332 B.C. Musée du Louvre. E 3442 In ancient Egypt, it was common for individuals, both men and women,...

Scalp with human hair. Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London. UC.30139

Scalp with human hair

This human scalp was found under a wig of long black hair, some remnant of the dark haired wig are still present in the form of a plait. The body itself is sadly lost, as it was either not mummified or very poorly mummified. Upon modern discovery, it seemed this body had been completely dried...