Fragment of a Relief: Portrait Head of a Noble
Fragment of a Relief: Portrait Head of a Noble
Place of OriginEgypt, from an unknown tomb at Luxor.
DateNew Kingdom, Dynasty 18, about 1350 BCE.
Dimensions13 1/2 × 11 3/4 in. (34.3 × 29.8 cm)
Frame: 18 1/8 × 20 1/8 × 2 in. (46 × 51.1 × 5.1 cm)
Frame: 18 1/8 × 20 1/8 × 2 in. (46 × 51.1 × 5.1 cm)
MediumLimestone with paint.
ClassificationSculpture
Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1957.35
On View
Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic
Collections
Published References- Sculpture
"Accessions of American and Canadian Museum, October-December 1957," Art Quarterly, vol. 21, no. 1, Spring 1958, p. 83.
Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, Summer 1960, new series, vol. 3, no. 3, p. 68, repr.
Porter, Bertha and Rosalind Moss, Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings, 2nd ed., Oxford, 1960, vol. 1, pt. 60, vol. 1, pt. 2, p. xx.
Luckner, Kurt T., "The Art of Egypt, Part 2," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, new series, vol. 14, no.3, Fall 1971, p. 71, repr. fig. 12.
Peck, William H., Sandra E. Knudsen and Paula Reich, Egypt in Toledo: The Ancient Egyptian Collection at the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art, 2011, p. 50-51, repr. (col.) p. 11, 50, (det.) p. 49.
Exhibition HistoryBasel, Kunsthalle, Schaetze Altegyptischer Kunst, 1953.
Toledo Museum of Art, The Unseen Art of TMA: What's in the Vaults and Why?, September 12, 2004-January 2, 2005.
Toledo Museum of Art, The Egypt Experience: Secrets of the Tomb, October 29, 2010-January 8, 2012.
Label TextDue to a lack of inscriptions, the identity of the man portrayed in this finely carved and well-preserved relief is unknown. However, the work’s style and appearance provide excellent clues about its original context. Over life-size, the head faces to the right and is of excellent quality, indicating its original installation in the tomb of a powerful official. Its crisp silhouette, subtle carving, and low relief signal an origin in New Kingdom Thebes, a date and location reinforced by other details. The subject’s short beard and multi-layered wig of shoulder length point to the reign of the powerful Pharaoh Amen-hotep III (1391–1353 BCE), when such features were fashionable.Dynasty VIII (1570-1349 BCE), Amarna Period (1372-1353 BCE)
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Akhen-aten, 1353-1336 BCE.
Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, about 2400 BCE.
Old Kingdom, late Dynasty 5, 2500-2420 BCE.
Old Kingdom, late Dynasty 5, 2500-2420 BCE
Old Kingdom, early Dynasty 4, about 2575-2551 BCE
Old Kingdom, early Dynasty 4, about 2575-2551 BCE.
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Akhen-aten, 1353-1336 BCE.
First Intermediate Period- early Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, about 1991-1802 BCE
Membership
Become a TMA member today
Support TMA
Help support the TMA mission