Ancient Egypt, Late Period Faience Beads Mummy Mask with Four Sons of Horus and Winged Scarab

A beautiful Ancient Egyptian re-strung beaded mummy mask, composed mostly of dark green faience beads, surrounded by a lighter faience bead border. Detailing of the features has been created in black beads for the eyes and eyebrows, with yellow and red beads for the nose and mouth. The mask has a tripartite panel under the chin of the mask, which shows a beaded composition forming a winged scarab, rendered in multi-coloured faience beads. Under the beaded scarab are the four Sons of Horus. It is very rare to have this enlarged group rather than just the face. The colours of the beads are beautifully vibrant.

Masks of this type rose to popularity in the Late Period of Ancient Egypt. Such masks likely had both a decorative and symbolic role as the burial of the dead in Ancient Egypt was an elaborate and ritualised process. Their unnaturalistic style and the similarity between beaded mummy masks, in general, make it unlikely that they were modelled after the face of the deceased individual and they were more likely generic images of a human face. Such masks have been also interpreted as visual representations of the god Osiris, due to their blue-greenish colour normally reserved for depictions of the dead god Osiris on the walls of the tombs.

Measurements: L 22 x W 15 cm

Provenance: From Mariaud de Serres collection, Paris 1980-90s.