Framed Ancient Egyptian Faience Mummy Mask

£ 425.00

A fine Ancient Egyptian mummy mask fashioned out of small faience beads of various colours. They were associated with funerary traditions and would have been placed over the face of the deceased at burial for both decorative and protective purposes. The mask depicts a stylised face, with large geometric features, such as a red triangular nose, long black linear brows, a small round mouth, and trapezoid eyes, and the skin is rendered in green beads to evoke the state of its wearer. The mask has been mounted on a sheet of papyrus.

The mask itself is 10.5cm length, 10.6cm width.

Date: Circa 664-332 BCE
Period: Late Dynastic Period
Condition: Very fine condition

SOLD

SKU: LD-436 Category: Tags: , ,

Beaded mummy masks abounded during the Late Period, covering both decorative and symbolic purposes in burial practices. 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 been more likely generic images of a dead human face as the absence of expression and the blue-greenish skin complexion potentially indicate this. 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.

To discover more about Egyptian faience, please visit our relevant blog post: What is Egyptian Faience

Weight 288.8 g
Dimensions L 20 x W 15 cm
Culture

Faience

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Region

Reference: For similar: The Global Egyptian Museum, item 17.6.20.60