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Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art · statue

Bust from a Seated Statue

Source of record: Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

Object Label: Clothing, jewelry, and objects like staffs and scepters provide clues about individuals represented in sculpture and other works of art. Because certain features like costumes changed frequently, they can also reveal when an object was created. If we know when a type of wig or garment was popular, for example, we can place a statue with that feature within a very limited time span. The elaborate style of wig seen here, with its twin masses of corkscrew curls, first appeared in the Eighteenth Dynasty reign of Amunhotep III (circa 1390–1352 B.C.E.) and remained fashionable for only a few generations. A faint inscription on the statue’s right arm confirms this dating and also tells us that this official served King Amunhotep IV, the son and successor of Amunhotep III. Five years after Amunhotep IV became king, he changed his name to Akhenaten, dating this statue to within a five-year period. The two necklaces depicted here represent strands of gold disks, or the so-called Gold of Honor, presented to officials or soldiers who had performed an unusual act of valor. Although the name of this man has not been preserved, he was obviously very important in his time. Caption: Bust from a Seated Statue, ca. 1353–1336 B.C.E.. Granite, 22 1/16 × 11 5/16 × 10 7/8 in. (56 × 28.8 × 27.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 69.45. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano

Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.

A weathered granite sculpted bust of an Egyptian man in a short wig, shown with formal facial features and a draped collar.

The image shows a stone bust carved in the round, with the head and upper torso visible. The figure has a short, close-fitting wig/headcloth and a calm, forward-facing expression with almond-shaped eyes. The upper chest is covered by a draped garment that falls in soft folds, including a collar/neckline element crossing the front of the shoulders. The background suggests a museum display case with other sculptures, and the bust is lit from the front. No clearly readable hieroglyphs or cartouches are visible on the portion shown; the texture and wear prevent secure identification of any inscription details. The overall finish and coarse grain are consistent with a carved stone sculpture.

royal New Kingdom, Amarna Period (per catalogue; image does not allow secure confirmation) good
Materials granite (catalogue-claimed; consistent with stone texture in image)

Connections

Royals Akhenaten

Cross-references (2)

  • BKM-Accession 69.45 tier-2
  • BKM-Object 3779 tier-2
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
  • AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
  • Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
  • Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.