The identity of this lifesize head and where it was created remain a mystery. The expert craftsmanship and innovative technology involved in shaping it and casting it in copper alloy, a very costly material, indicates that it represents a king or elite person. The nose, lips, large ears, heavy-lidded eyes, and modeling of the face are rendered in a naturalistic style. The dark, empty spaces of the eyes were probably originally inlaid with contrasting materials. Patterns in the elegantly coiffed beard and well-trimmed mustache and the curving and diagonal lines of the figure’s cloth turban can still be seen beneath the corroded copper surface. These aspects of personal appearance further support the identification of this image with an elite personage. Furthermore, the head’s unusually individualized features suggest that it might be a portrait. Were that to be true, the head would be a rare example of portraiture in ancient Near Eastern art.
Recent examination has revealed that the head, long thought to be virtually solid, originally contained a clay core held in place by metal supports. It may be among the earliest known examples of lifesize hollow casting in the lost-wax method. A plate across the neck incorporates a square peg originally set into a body or other mount, which may have been made of a different material.
Adapted from, Art of the Ancient Near East: A Resource for Educators (2010)
[By 1918, R.D. Messayeh, New York]; [1919, purchased by Joseph Brummer from Messayeh, New York (Brummer inv. no. N315)]; acquired by the Museum in 1947, purchased from the estate of Joseph Brummer, New York.
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“Art of the Ancient Near East,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, March 4–September 5, 1949.
“Small Sculptures in Bronze,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, November 6, 1950–January 31, 1951.
“Art Treasures of the Metropolitan: A Selection from the European and Asiatic Collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, November 7, 1952–September 7, 1953.
“In the Presence of Kings: Royal Treasures from the Collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, April 19–September 4, 1967.
“Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, November 14, 1970–June 1, 1971.
“The Grand Gallery,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, October 19, 1974–January 5, 1975.
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"Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus," The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, May 8–August 17, 2003.
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“Mesopotamia: Great Cultural Innovations, Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art,” National Museum of Korea, Seoul, South Korea, July 22, 2022–September 29, 2024.
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Includes more than 7,000 works ranging in date from the eighth millennium B.C. through the centuries just beyond the time of the Arab conquests of the seventh century A.D.
