Egyptian
An Egyptian red jasper head inlay fragment, Ptolemaic Period, circa 3rd - 2nd century BC
Jasper
Height: 3.4 cm
Composed of a finely carved profile head of a man, fragmentary as seen.
Composed of a finely carved profile head of a man, fragmentary as seen.
Provenance
Galerie Nefer, Zurich, prior to 1982
Private Collection, Aarau, thence by descent
Private Collection, Switzerland Swiss private collection, 2018Exhibitions
On Loan: Antikenmuseum Basel & Sammlung Ludwig, 1998 – 2022Rome, Chiostro del Bramante, Cleopatra. Roma e l’incantesimo dell’Egitto, 12 October 2013 – 2 February 2014
Paris, Pinacothèque de Paris, Le Mythe Cléopâtre, 10 April 2014 – 7 September 2014
Literature
Red inlay heads were created in Egypt from the New Kingdom through the Ptolemaic Period. The colour is consistent with the Egyptian tradition of depicting male skin as red, as evidenced by preserved wall paintings. There is a similar but complete red jasper head of a king in the Cleveland Museum of Art, acc.no. 1966.370: L.M. Berman, and K. J. Bohač, Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999, p. 494.
Publications
G. Gentili (ed.), Cleopatra. Roma e l’incantesimo dell’Egitto, Skira, Milano, 2013, no. 64, p. 268M. Restellini (ed.), Le Mythe Cléopâtre, Pinacothèque de Paris, 2014, p. 163, no. 95