AN IMPORTANT EARLY PORTRAIT HEAD OF AMENHOTEP III, in basalt, depicting the king wearing a nemes -headcloth and coiled uraeus , his almond-shaped eyes accentuated by an extended eyeline and eyebrow, with broad-based nose and sensual mouth rimmed by a lip line Condition: front of the uraeus, left side of nose, lower part of chin and beard, and pigtail missing Early reign of Amenhotep III, circa 1390-1380 B.C. 6¼in. (15.9cm.) high PROVENANCE: Acquired in Zurich, 1948, reputedly from the collection of the Prince of Hohenzollern This head of Amenhotep III is rare on many counts. It shows the youth and sensuality of the young king who, as a teenager, ascended his father Tuthmosis IV's throne circa 1391 B.C. He inherited a wealthy country whose empire extended from Nubia to Syria and during his fairly peaceful thirty-eight year reign he embarked on an extensive campaign of building monuments and commissioning statuary. One of his epithets was "the Dazzling Sun Disk of all lands". Much of the sculpture of this period was monumental in granodiorite, granite, quartzite or limestone, although small scale sculptures of the King in precious glass or wood are known. The choice of the material for this head and his headdress is quite unusual. Most commonly he appears wearing the khepresh (war-crown) showing the King's military role, or the pschent (double crown) showing the King's political dominance over the Two Lands, or his own invention, the nemes -headcloth, surmounted by the double crown. In this head, full of vitality, can perhaps be seen the youthful features of Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) and Tutankhamun. The majority of heads of Amenhotep III show him as an adult. The appearance of this hitherto unpublished head of Amenhotep III coincides with the King's recent fourth Sed -festival, the magnificent exhibition organised by Arielle P. Kozloff and Betsy M. Bryan with Lawrence M. Berman in 1992/1993, ( cf. Exhibition catalogue, Egypt's Dazzling Sun, Amenhotep III and his World , The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1992, which contains a comprehensive bibliography)
AN IMPORTANT EARLY PORTRAIT HEAD OF AMENHOTEP III, in basalt, depicting the king wearing a nemes -headcloth and coiled uraeus , his almond-shaped eyes accentuated by an extended eyeline and eyebrow, with broad-based nose and sensual mouth rimmed by a lip line Condition: front of the uraeus, left side of nose, lower part of chin and beard, and pigtail missing Early reign of Amenhotep III, circa 1390-1380 B.C. 6¼in. (15.9cm.) high PROVENANCE: Acquired in Zurich, 1948, reputedly from the collection of the Prince of Hohenzollern This head of Amenhotep III is rare on many counts. It shows the youth and sensuality of the young king who, as a teenager, ascended his father Tuthmosis IV's throne circa 1391 B.C. He inherited a wealthy country whose empire extended from Nubia to Syria and during his fairly peaceful thirty-eight year reign he embarked on an extensive campaign of building monuments and commissioning statuary. One of his epithets was "the Dazzling Sun Disk of all lands". Much of the sculpture of this period was monumental in granodiorite, granite, quartzite or limestone, although small scale sculptures of the King in precious glass or wood are known. The choice of the material for this head and his headdress is quite unusual. Most commonly he appears wearing the khepresh (war-crown) showing the King's military role, or the pschent (double crown) showing the King's political dominance over the Two Lands, or his own invention, the nemes -headcloth, surmounted by the double crown. In this head, full of vitality, can perhaps be seen the youthful features of Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) and Tutankhamun. The majority of heads of Amenhotep III show him as an adult. The appearance of this hitherto unpublished head of Amenhotep III coincides with the King's recent fourth Sed -festival, the magnificent exhibition organised by Arielle P. Kozloff and Betsy M. Bryan with Lawrence M. Berman in 1992/1993, ( cf. Exhibition catalogue, Egypt's Dazzling Sun, Amenhotep III and his World , The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1992, which contains a comprehensive bibliography)
_900x900.jpg "Source: Timeline Auctions")
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