Description:
A mummy mask made of cartonnage, partly gilded and partly painted in polychrome. Especially the parts of the mask that show the human skin (face, neck and ears) were gilded, because the deceased hoped to become a god after death, being equated with Osiris; according to Egyptian beliefs, the flesh of the gods was made of gold, the imperishable element that also contained solar aspects. A gold or gilded mask therefore helped to represent the deceased as a transfigured being, eligible for eternal life.
The face is that of a woman. It is idealised and youthful, with large, wide-open eyes with dark pupils. Other facial features such as the nose and mouth were summarily modelled and the lips were painted. All this is typical for mummy masks of the period.
The face is surrounded by a blue tripartite wig which leaves the ears exposed. The wig is adorned on top with a falcon with outstretched wings, a frontal headband with rosettes, and a row of pearls or beads with a wedjat eye in the middle. The hair on the forehead is worked in relief, as are the earrings and the necklace the woman is wearing.
Background information:
Cartonnage was made with several layers of linen (or, in later periods, sometimes recycled papyrus documents) which were glued together and shaped in a mould or moulded over the mummy, and then coated with a layer of gesso (a mixture of glue and plaster). This resulted in a smooth medium, well suited for painting.
The ancient Egyptians believed that the preservation of the body was essential to the eternal survival; it served as the physical point of return for the ba (often translated, rather incorrectly, as “soul”), the aspect of man that could move freely after death, that would leave the tomb in the shape of a human-headed bird to sit in the sun, or to drink water in the shadow of some trees in the garden, and that would at night return to the body, transferring to the mummy the energy it had acquired during the day. In order to make this possible, the body of the deceased had to be preserved, as well as protected in the tomb. At the same time, its appearance had to be made such that the ba would recognise the body.
Improvements in the mummification technique, developments in the funerary beliefs and other factors have during the long history of ancient Egypt resulted in a series of changes that affected the appearance of mummies and the shape and decoration of coffins and masks.
Fragmentary pottery masks, dating to the late Predynastic Period, have been found, but there is still some discussion about their function. But by the early Old Kingdom, the linen outer wrappings of mummies were already stiffened with plaster, modelled and painted to imitate facial and anatomical features. Later in the Old Kingdom, these details were modelled in an added layer of plaster. Since the First Intermediate Period the head of the mummy began to be protected with a cartonnage mask placed over the wrappings, representing the deceased. In the early New Kingdom the wrapped heads, their faces painted, were sometimes provided with false hair and false eyes.
Bibliography:
Edna R. Russmann et al., Eternal Egypt. Masterworks of Ancient Art from the British Museum (London, British Museum Press; Berkeley and Los Angeles, California, University of California Press, 2001), p. 204;
Salima Ikram - Aidan Dodson, The Mummy in Ancient Egypt. Equipping the Dead for Eternity (London, Thames and Hudson, 1998), esp. p. 166-192.
Dating:
Late Ptolemaic Period, circa first century B.C.
Size:
Height circa 31 cm.
Provenance:
Private USA collection of Donald M. Freese, Bloomington, Illinois (1921-2013), acquired in the 1950s, probably from the Susette Khayat Gallery in New York, from whom Freese bought Egyptian artifacts during those years. Before it was mounted on a plinth which still carried a label from auction house Parke-Bernet, New York (established 1937 - bought by Sotheby London in 1964), reading "98"; thence collection of Martin L. Gerwick (2013); thence French private collection (2014). With a French export license.
Condition:
There are some lacunae, especially around the edges and on top of the head, and small cracks in the cartonnage, as shown, with stabilisation; some restoration; possibly some added blue in the wig. Overall in a very good condition.
Price:
€ 24,000
Stock number:
E1369