Ancient Egyptian Faience Beads Mummy Mask Circa 500 Bc

Ancient Egyptian Faience Beads Mummy Mask circa 500 BC

Late Dynastic period, circa 664-332 BC

Faience beads, 17 x 19 cm

Offered in a professionally made frame, outer dimensions 40 x 36 cm

Provenance: with Wim van Stormbroek Ancient Art, 1996; since then private collection, The Netherlands

A fine Egyptian mummy mask made of small faience beads. Pale green, black, red and cream tones have been used to render in a highly stylised manner a human face with a neutral expression. The large trapezoid eyes, long thin eyebrows, broad nose and small mouth are arranged in a perfectly symmetrical manner. The mask would have been placed over the face of the deceased at their burial, in a similar manner to the better-known cartonnage mummy masks, mostly for decorative or protective purposes.

Masks of this type rose to popularity in the Late Period of Ancient Egypt. They likely had both a decorative and symbolic role, as the burial of the dead in Ancient Egypt was an elaborate and ritualised process. Their unnaturalistic style and the similarities between beaded mummy masks in general make it unlikely that they were modelled after the face of the deceased individual; they seem to have more likely been generic images of a dead human face as the absence of expression and the blue-greenish skin complexion could indicate. However, such masks have also been interpreted as visual representations of the god Osiris – himself also a dead being – frequently depicted in the tombs with an identical skin-colour.

Very good condition.

Shipping in Europe: 25 euro