Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Head and Torso of a Statue of a Woman Seated
Middle Kingdom
Not on view
This object is not part of The Met collection. It was in the Museum for a special exhibition and has been returned to the lender.
A considerable number of female sculptures of this type were created during the Twelfth Dynasty. When complete, they were about an ancient Egyptian cubit high (20.7 inches) and showed a seated young woman in a sheath dress and a tripartite wig or a Hathoric wig with curled ends. Often, although not here, a royal uraeus (cobra) is seen above the forehead. Representing elite or royal women, the works were dedicated to temples or placed in funerary cult chambers.