About the Artwork
The identity of the person represented by the Head of a Man is unknown because the inscription is lost; however, he lived during the Ptolemaic dynasty, which was founded by one of Alexander the Great's generals. The man was likely an important leader, perhaps a priest or a general, and had himself portrayed with strength and self-assurance.
Head of a Man
between 200 and 150 BCE
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Egyptian
Egyptian
Carved stone
Overall (sculpture): 3 1/2 × 2 1/2 × 3 9/16 inches (8.9 × 6.4 × 9 cm) Mount (base): 2 3/4 × 2 3/8 × 2 1/2 inches (7 × 6 × 6.4 cm) Including base: 6 1/4 × 2 1/2 × 3 9/16 inches (15.9 × 6.4 × 9 cm)
Sculpture
African Art
City of Detroit Purchase
40.48
This work is in the public domain.
Markings
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Provenance
Howard Carter (London, England)
1940-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Suggest FeedbackPublished References
Bulletin of the DIA 20, no. 5 (February 1941): p. 50.
Bothmer, Bernard V. "The signs of Age," Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, vol. 49, no. 277 (October 1951): p. 74 [column 1, footnote 2].
Egyptian Sculpture of the Late Period 700 B.C. to A.D. 100. Exh. cat., Brooklyn Museum. Brooklyn, October 18, 1960-January 9, 1961. Reprint, 1973, pp. 143-144, no. 111, pl. 102-103, (fig. 274-275, 277-278) [as "Portrait Head with Hooked Nose"].
"Family Art Game," Detroit News/Detroit Free Press (April 18, 1982): p. 30 (ill.). [DIA Advertising Supplement].
"Family Art Game," Detroit Free Press (May 18, 1986): p. 28 (ill.). [DIA Advertising Supplement].
Cleopatra's Egypt: Age of the Ptolemies. Exh. cat., Brooklyn Museum, DIA, Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung. Brooklyn, 1988, cat. no. 00; p. 132, (ill.); color pl. VII; cat. no. 37.
ESLP. p. 142, 143-144, 150, 156, 165, 166; pl. 102-103, (fig. 74-275, 277-278); cat. no. 111.
Peck. 1981, pp. 65-7.
James, T. G. H. Howard Carter: the Path to Tutankhamun. London, 1982, p. 373.
Peck. 1983, pp. 4-5.
Peck. 1991b, pp. 17, 22 (ill.).
Peck. 1991a, pp. 16, 19, 68 (ill.).
Peck. 1991c, p. 81.
Carter. [illustration and caption] p. 177. [Listed in Carter's will as "Black basalt portrait Headof an Official, Saite, 3 1/2" high 15.0.0", p. 182].
Detroit, 1995, p. 103.
Henshaw, Julia P., ed. A Visitors Guide: The Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1995, p. 103 (ill.).
Romano, James F. In the Fullness of Time. Hallie Ford Museum of Art. 2002, p. 66.
Peck, William H. “Archaeology and the Detroit Institute of Arts,” Bulletin of the DIA 79, no. 1/2 (2005): 8, (fig. 6).
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Egyptian, Head of a Man, between 200 and 150 BCE, carved stone. Detroit Institute of Arts, City of Detroit Purchase, 40.48.
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