Ancestral bust of a woman

A limestone ‘ancestral bust’ (c.1292-1190 BC) from Deir el-Medina, now in the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Height: 26cm Especially striking due to its lack of decoration, this limestone bust is unlike most ancient Egyptian sculpture. It was made to show only the head, shoulders, and upper chest, and was not intended to be set into other elements to make a complete bodily form. The treatment of the face – particularly the sfumato eyes, which lack traditional definition, and the presence of pierced holes in the ears – strongly suggests a date at the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty. It was once painted with an elaborate broad floral collar – a sign of festivity and godliness – traces of