On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Fragmentary Head of a King (Eye Fragment)
New Kingdom
Face from a Composite Statue of a Pharaoh
Dynasty 18, probably reign of Thutmose IV (ca. 1400-1390 B.C.)
Red jasper
Nose: Purchase, Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1926 (26.7.1398b)
Cheek and mouth: Rogers Fund, by exchange, 1993 (1993.27a, b)
Eye and temple: Lent by the Musée du Louvre, Paris (L.1993.21a, b)
These fragments are from a composite statue with red jasper. Although the composition of statues from various different stone materials was preferred during the Amarna period (ca. 1352-1336 B.C.), this work may be dated earlier on stylistic grounds. Especially close are representations of King Thutmose IV, grandfather of King Akhenaten of Amarna.
Fragments of this face were dispersed in various collections but in 1993 it became possible to reunite the original parts through an exchange with the Petrie Museum, London, and a long-term loan from the Louvre, Paris. The full statue probably had a garment of white alabaster; face, hands, and feet of red jasper; and a crown of blue glass or faience with rich gilding.
