Relief Plaque with head of a goddess or a queen

Relief Plaque with head of a goddess or a queen

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Small Late Period and Ptolemaic reliefs or sculptures that depict a subject in a partial or unfinished way but are themselves complete objects constitute a special class of objects. These objects, sometimes called "sculptor's models/votives" by Egyptologists, were the material of a donation practice, perhaps connected with these centuries' prolific temple building. Unfortunately, there is little to illuminate us about the mechanics of such a donation practice. This example depicts a head wearing the vulture headgear, a sign of queenship and divinity.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Relief Plaque with head of a goddess or a queenRelief Plaque with head of a goddess or a queenRelief Plaque with head of a goddess or a queenRelief Plaque with head of a goddess or a queenRelief Plaque with head of a goddess or a queen

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.