Egyptian head of Osiris, Late Dynastic Period, 26th Dynasty, c.664-525 BC
Serpentine
Height: 9.6cm
10895 TA
Charles Ede, London
Further images
Head from a statuette of the god Osiris, his face with refined details; the eyebrows, upper and lower eyelids and extended eyelines are all precisely carved in raised relief. He...
Head from a statuette of the god Osiris, his face with refined details; the eyebrows, upper and lower eyelids and extended eyelines are all precisely carved in raised relief. He wears a plaited false beard and the Hedjet (white crown) of Upper Egypt, with side-plumes and ureaus, the snake’s tail meandering up the front of the crown. The figure rests against a plain dorsal column, and is broken at the base of the neck. Nose, ureaus, and tips of beard and one feather chipped, the surface with some wear.
Osiris was Lord of the Underworld, god of reincarnation and Judge of the Dead. The figure to which this head belongs would likely have been seated on a throne. Such statuettes were donated at temples to Osiris, and one of as high quality as this would have been given by an offerant of high social status and wealth.
Osiris was Lord of the Underworld, god of reincarnation and Judge of the Dead. The figure to which this head belongs would likely have been seated on a throne. Such statuettes were donated at temples to Osiris, and one of as high quality as this would have been given by an offerant of high social status and wealth.
Provenance
Rodney Davidson Collection, Australia; acquired 1940sCharles Ede Ltd, London, UK; acquired from Sotheby's February 1975 and sold to Blauchard
Dr Sid Port, California, USA; acquired 1981
Literature
Compare an example on display at the Walter Art Museum, Maryland, USA, accession number 22.207Publications
Sotheby's, London, Antiquities, Islamic and Isnik Pottery, Primitive Art, 24th February 1975, lot 126Charles Ede Ltd, Small Sculpture from Ancient Egypt V (London, 1976), no.6
