ticketsMember | Make a donation

Royal bust with atypical snake

Late Period–Ptolemaic Period
400–200 B.C.
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 134
Small Late Period and Ptolemaic reliefs or sculptures that depict a subject in a partial or unfinished way but are themselves finished objects constitute a special class of object. Guidelines like those for artists are often prominently exhibited as part of the object, although, in fact, many instances can be noted where the object simply could not serve as a suitable model for a traditional formal Egyptian representation. Personifications of kingship, figures that may represent the now emerging demigods Imhotep and Amenhotep Son of Hapu, and popular gods like Harpokrates or Isis, are heavily represented within the corpus.

Taken together, the figures represented and the other features indicate the reliefs and sculptures of this class, sometimes called by Egyptologists "sculptor’s models / votives," were the material of a donation practice, perhaps connected with the prolific temple building of these centuries. Unfortunately there is little to illuminate us about the mechanics of such a donation practice.

A number of the royal busts among this class of object depict the royal image as if emerging from the surface of stone. As in many instances, the royal bust wears a down hanging snake, not the upraised uraeus cobra, suggesting a personification of some sort is depicted.

Link to a blog about Ptolemaic Art at The Met
Nile and Newcomers: A Fresh Installation of Egyptian Ptolemaic Art

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Royal bust with atypical snake
  • Period: Late Period–Ptolemaic Period
  • Dynasty: Dynasty 30
  • Date: 400–200 B.C.
  • Geography: From Egypt
  • Medium: Alabaster (gypsum)
  • Dimensions: H. 12 cm (4 3/4 in.); W. 10 cm (3 15/16 in.); D. 4.3 cm (1 11/16 in.)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. William H. Moore, 1947
  • Object Number: 47.13.2
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Bust of an Official, Greywacke
Bust of an Official
380–343 B.C.
Antelope Head, Greywacke, travertine (Egyptian alabaster), agate
Antelope Head
525–404 B.C.
Statuette of an ancestral king, Wood, formerly clad with lead sheet
Statuette of an ancestral king
390–246 BCE
Royal bust, Limestone
Royal bust
400–200 B.C.
Royal bust, Limestone
Royal bust
400–200 B.C.

Related Content

Perspectives

Articles, audio, and video from The Met's online magazine.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.