EGYPTIAN PAINTED WOOD SARCOPHAGUS MASK

Ptolemaic Dynasty, circa 2 100 – 2 400 years
Wood, gesso, paint
34 × 23 × 11 cm (including stand)
25 × 23 × 11 cm (mask)

Provenance:
– Art dealer and auctioneer Paolo Morigi, Magliaso-Lugano
– Dr Muggiasca collection, Ticino
– Julio Escriba collection

This is an exceptional ancient Egyptian wooden sarcophagus mask showing the frontal view of an idealised face. Though they seldom portrayed a true portrait of the deceased, funerary masks were an essential component of the mummy, providing a visual representation of the deceased during their journey through the afterlife.

This fine piece depicts the facial features of a young male individual. His traits are rendered with great sensitivity, particularly his slightly arched eyebrows, slender nose and plump lips set in a faint smile. Heavy eyelids shape his solemn eyes which preserve some detailing to the dark pupils. The mask is carved from a single wood core and overlaid with a thin layer of gesso, a combination of chalk and glue often used in woodworking to provide a smooth painting surface. In this mask, the fragmentary gesso displays exceptional retention of the original pigmentation, with red tones used to render the skin, white for eyes, and black for the eye contour.

The mask is in very fine condition with the wood in excellent stable condition, and much of the original paint still quite visible. There are small cracks and losses overall, consistent with the age of the mask. Various sockets are arranged on the perimeter, some retaining fragments of the wooden pins which would have integrated the face in the overall design of the coffin.