The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 9, 2023

Fragment of an Inlay Headdress

c. 1353–1295 BC

Egypt, New Kingdom (1540–1069 BCE), Dynasty 18

Lavender blue faience with deep blue overglaze

Overall: 6.7 x 7.7 x 2.8 cm (2 5/8 x 3 1/16 x 1 1/8 in.)

Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1920.1976

Location

107 Egyptian

Fun Fact

It has been suggested that this fragment was part of a headdress that belonged to a queen. The fine, carved details of this headdress attest to the great skill of its maker and the luster of the blue lapis lazuli faience would have been appropriate for Egyptian royalty.

Description

This fragment is part of the curled headdress of an inlay figure, probably of a queen, assembled of various materials fit together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The front part of the headdress (directly over the forehead) is to the left, followed by the ear tab and part of the cutout above the ear. The luster of the faience is marvelously preserved. Blue, primarily associated with lapis lazuli, was an appropriate color for kings' and gods' hair and was part of the apparatus signaling them as otherworldly beings.

Provenance
Said to come from el-Amarna. Purchased from P. Kytikas, Cairo, through Howard Carter
Citations
Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač. Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999 Reproduced: p. 306; Mentioned: p. 306-307
Vandenbeusch, Marie, Aude Semat, and Margaret Maitland. Pharaoh: King of Ancient Egypt. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art ; London : The British Museum, 2016. Reproduced: p. 163, fig. 72
Exhibition history

Gifts of the Nile: Ancient Egyptian Faience. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (May 10-July 5, 1998); Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, RI (August 25, 1998-January 3, 1999).

Conserving the Past for the Future. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-May 6, 2001).

Pharaoh: King of Ancient Egypt. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 13-June 12, 2016).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1920.1976