26th Dynasty Terracotta Sculpture of a Ram Head, 664 BCE - 525 BCE
Terracotta
2.5 x 2
X.0690
This object is a flat-backed plaque depicting th right facing head of a ram in high relief. The horn o the ram is re-curved and curls around the ear towar...
This object is a flat-backed plaque depicting th right facing head of a ram in high relief. The horn o the ram is re-curved and curls around the ear towar the front of its face. The profile is aristocratic,
helped by the high nasal bones and small ears tha characterise many North African domestic and wil sheep breeds. The details of the ear particularl the treatment of the hair in the area from which i springs from the head the tear duct anterior to th eye, and the mouth-nostrils are meticulously observe and executed. The entire object is modelled in broa planes to which linear detail has been added. Th facial aspect is smooth clay: the horns and long hai at the neck level are in stronger relief. Without either an accompanying inscription o distinctive specific attribute, it is difficult t identify the deity to which this particular ra carving was intended to relate. Candidates includ Khnum (who, as potter, fashioned mankind on th potters wheel), Amun (whose depiction as a ram i demonstrated by the avenues of ram-headed sphinxes i Thebes) and Bad-neb-djed, the ram-headed god of Mende (the capital of Egypt during Dynasty XXIX). Our ra may well represent any one of these deities. In style and technique, our terracotta plaque find its closest stylistic parallels in limestone plaque that are often termed sculptors models, with th understanding they were maquettes for larger works,
However, they may in fact have served as votiv offerings in their own right. Limestone versions ar usually dated to the Late Period, but stylisti comparisons with related artefacts including a example in Boston seem to suggest a date somewher in the Ptolemaic Period. In essence, however, ou plaque is unique. This is an exceptionally beautiful, perfectly execute and very rare artefact that will appeal to anyone wit interests in ancient Egyptian artworks. References:
For the double-sided relief in Boston, Museum of Fin Arts 51.2474, see, Robert Steven Bianchi, Cleopatra Egypt. Age of the Ptolemies (Brooklyn 1988), page 242-243, catalogue number 131.
helped by the high nasal bones and small ears tha characterise many North African domestic and wil sheep breeds. The details of the ear particularl the treatment of the hair in the area from which i springs from the head the tear duct anterior to th eye, and the mouth-nostrils are meticulously observe and executed. The entire object is modelled in broa planes to which linear detail has been added. Th facial aspect is smooth clay: the horns and long hai at the neck level are in stronger relief. Without either an accompanying inscription o distinctive specific attribute, it is difficult t identify the deity to which this particular ra carving was intended to relate. Candidates includ Khnum (who, as potter, fashioned mankind on th potters wheel), Amun (whose depiction as a ram i demonstrated by the avenues of ram-headed sphinxes i Thebes) and Bad-neb-djed, the ram-headed god of Mende (the capital of Egypt during Dynasty XXIX). Our ra may well represent any one of these deities. In style and technique, our terracotta plaque find its closest stylistic parallels in limestone plaque that are often termed sculptors models, with th understanding they were maquettes for larger works,
However, they may in fact have served as votiv offerings in their own right. Limestone versions ar usually dated to the Late Period, but stylisti comparisons with related artefacts including a example in Boston seem to suggest a date somewher in the Ptolemaic Period. In essence, however, ou plaque is unique. This is an exceptionally beautiful, perfectly execute and very rare artefact that will appeal to anyone wit interests in ancient Egyptian artworks. References:
For the double-sided relief in Boston, Museum of Fin Arts 51.2474, see, Robert Steven Bianchi, Cleopatra Egypt. Age of the Ptolemies (Brooklyn 1988), page 242-243, catalogue number 131.