Material: Cartonnage; linen, stucco and pigments.
Period: Egypt, Third Intermediate Period, 1070 - 715 BC.
Size: Height 27.5 cm
Provenance: Private collection, Paris, France. By inheritance 2005.
Condition: Excellent state of preservation, has all the original polychrome. Presents restoration on the tip of the nose and a slight crack in the right side area of the chin to the lip restored.
An exquisite funerary portrait of eternal life.
Funerary Wrapper Fragment
The upper section of an Egyptian funerary wrapper corresponding to the head, made of cartonnage — layered linen stiffened with resin, plastered and richly polychromed.
Exceptionally preserved, it stands out for the fineness of its modeling and the vivid quality of its colors, reflecting the high level achieved by funerary wrappings during the Third Intermediate Period, when cartonnage replaced earlier anthropomorphic sarcophagi.
The deceased is shown in an idealized, serene form, with almond-shaped eyes, delicately arched brows, and softly smiling lips, expressing a state close to the divine. A complex black wig, symbol of divinity, is adorned with stylized bird wings and topped by a broad polychrome diadem. Holes at the crown indicate how the piece was originally tied to the mummy while still wet and molded directly to the body. Such wrappings were intended to protect the deceased and associate them with rebirth in the afterlife.
