Sculpture

Bust of Cleopatra VII

This marble portrait of Cleopatra VII was discovered at Via Appia, between Ariccia and Genzano and was likely on display in a private villa south of Rome. The bust dates from approximately 40-30 B.C., and was made during the queen’s lifetime. Cleopatra VII is seen wearing the broad royal diadem of her Ptolemaic lineage, and...

Kneeling Statue of Osorkon III

Kneeling Statue of Osorkon III

The statue depicting king Osorkon III kneeling and pushing a barque of Seker, red color on headdress and kilt, possibly an undercoat for gilding, now lost. Osorkon III ruled during the 8th century BC as part of the 23rd Dynasty. He was known for his military campaigns and efforts to restore stability to the kingdom...

Plaster face of an elder

Plaster face of an elder

This plaster face of an elderly face was discovered in Tell el-Amarna, the location of king Akhenaten’s experimental capital city of Akhetaten. Within this city was discovered a workshop belonging to the “king’s favourite” sculptor, a man by the name of Thutmose. It was of the remnants of this workshop where the world-famous, objectively breathtaking...

Ebony figure of a man, with young boy at side

Standing at 48.30cm, this statuette of a man is carved from ebony and once had inlaid eyes and brows, likely made of glass or semi-precious stone. Upon the side of the striding man is a profile figure of a young boy. The man wears a shoulder-length wig parted in the middle. He is shirtless but...

Alabaster figure of a woman

Alabaster figure of a woman

This calcite or Egyptian Alabaster figure of a woman dates from the Old Kingdom’s 4th Dynasty, c. 2613-2566 B.C. Read more about women in Ancient Egypt: Daughters of Isis, Women of Ancient Egypt

Woman baking bread

This painted limestone statuette depicting a woman baking bread was discovered at Giza within Tomb G 2415. According to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where this piece currently resides, the statue was broken in antiquity and was fixed via a wooden peg, holding the base together. If you look closely, you can still see...

The boy Ptahneferti

The boy Ptahneferti

This painted limestone statuette of Ptahneferti (ptHnfrtj) as a boy, was discovered in Giza, Tomb G 2009. Dating from the Old Kingdom’s 5th Dynasty, c. 2465–2323 B.C., stands at 18 cm tall.In Ancient Egypt, children were often represented nude or partially dressed, with one long braided plait falling from the side of their head and...

Statuette of Amenemhab

Statues of Amenemhab and Huwebenef

These statuettes of brothers Amenemhab and Huwebenef were discovered in 1911 by Howard Carter’s Lord Carnarvon Excavations at El-Assasif, Thebes. The figures were found within Tomb CC37 (Hall C, burial 24), placed within the coffin of a woman named Ahhotep Tanodjmu (Ahhotep the sweet) presumed to be the boy’s mother. The figure of Amenemhab is...

Administrator Kai

Administrator Kai

This seated statue of the administrator Kai was discovered in November of 1850, at the Memphite Necropolis. The Memphite Necropolis (or Pyramid Fields) is a series of ancient Egyptian funerary complexes occupying a 30-kilometer (19 mi) stretch on the Western Desert plateau in the vicinity of the ancient capital of Memphis, Lower Egypt, today in...

Life-size quartzite head of Nefertiti

Life-size quartzite head of Nefertiti

This life-size quartzite head of Nefertiti was discovered within the remains of the workshop of the Ancient Egyptian sculptor Thutmose at Amarna. Although unmarked, the resemblance to other portraits of Nefertiti identify her clearly. The head is made of quartzite, but has yet to be sanded to create a smooth finish. The face still has...