Wooden face from a coffin

This face, carved from wood (unknown at the present which type of wood), measures at 22.8cm and was purchased by the British Museum from the collection of the Somerset Lowry-Corry, 2nd Earl Belmore (1774–1841) in 1843.

Originally, this wooden face was made to be attached to a coffin, alas, whether it ever was attached to one is not knowable at the present as all that remains is the face itself. The beautiful carved serene face would have originally had inlaid eyes and brows of semi-precious stones and/or glass.

Back of the face, showing attachment placements

The face dates from the 18th Dynasty, and that leads one to take into consideration the resemblance the face has to the Late 18th Dynasty artwork, specifically, the Amarna Period and, even more specifically, depictions of Nefertiti. To us here at Egypt-Museum, the face appears to have quite a resemblance to the Great Royal Wife of Akhenaten.

Wooden face from a coffin. British Museum. EA6885

Sadly, it is not known where the mask was originally taken from, hopefully some day in the future, Egyptologists or scholars may look into this piece a little more. For now, we here at Egypt-Museum have had a little fun with these edits, to see whether the resemblance is truly there, or if it is just wishful thinking.

Please enjoy and share your thoughts with us.