Fragmentary Head of a King
New Kingdom
For many years the fragments of this face were dispersed in various collections, but in 1993 it became possible to reunite the pieces through an exchange with the Petrie Museum, London (the cheek, 1993.27a, b), and a long-term loan from the Musée du Louvre, Paris (the eye, L.1993.21a, b). Part of a red jasper thumb in the collection (26.7.1398b) probably belonged to the same statue.
The original statue was probably what we call a "composite statue" in which the face and other areas of exposed flesh (the hands and feet) were carved from jasper and rest of the statue was carved from Egyptian alabaster, limestone, or wood. Although such statues most frequently come from the the reign of Akhenaten in the Amarna period (ca. 1353-1336 B.C.), this work has been dated to the reign of Akhenaten's grandfather, Thutmose IV, on stylistic grounds.
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