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Head of a female sphinx
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Head of a queen, from a sphinx
Head of a female sphinx
Egyptian
Middle Kingdom, reign of Senwosret II
1897–1878 B.C.
Findspot: Egypt, Said to be from Matariya
Medium/Technique
Quartzite
Dimensions
Width x height x depth: 24 x 27 x 22 cm (9 7/16 x 10 5/8 x 8 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
Partial gift of Magda Saleh and Jack A. Josephson in honor of Dr. Rita E. Freed, Norma Jean Calderwood Curator of Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art and museum purchase with funds from the Florence E. and Horace L. Mayer Funds, Egyptian Curator's Fund, Marilyn M. Simpson Fund, Norma Jean and Stanford Calderwood Discretionary Fund, Mr. and Mrs. James M. Vaughn, Jr., The Vaughn Foundation Fund, Egyptian Deaccession Fund, Mr. and Mrs. John H. Valentine, Jane Marsland and Judith A. Marsland Fund, Ernest Kahn Fund, Susan Cornelia Warren Fund, Samuel Putnam Avery Fund, Mary L. Smith Fund, John Wheelock Elliot and John Morse Elliot Fund, Mary E. Moore Gift, Mrs. James Evans Ladd, Frank Jackson and Nancy McMahon, Alice M. Bartlett Fund, Benjamin Pierce Cheney Donation, Frank M. and Mary T. B. Ferrin Fund, Meg Holmes Robbins, Mr. and Mrs. Mark R. Goldweitz, Allen and Elizabeth R. Mottur, Barbara and Joanne Herman, Clark and Jane Hinkley, Walter and Celia Gilbert, Mr. and Mrs. Gorham L. Cross, Mr. and Mrs. Miguel de Bragança, Honey Scheidt, Mr. and Mrs. G. Arnold Haynes and Margaret J. Faulkner
Accession Number2002.609
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsSculpture
DescriptionThe sloping shoulders on this lovely female head indicate that it comes from the figure of a sphinx. Although her name is not preserved, the uraeus (sacred cobra) at her brow indicates that she is a queen. Stylized eyes combined with subtle modeling around the mouth enable us to attribute her more precisely as Khnemetneferhedjetweret (Weret for short), chief wife of Senwosret II. The distinctive modeling of the queen’s mature face represents a milestone in the development of Middle Kingdom portraiture that reaches its culmination in the head of a nobleman shown nearby.
ProvenanceSaid to be from Matariya. Before 1982, private collection, Paris [see note]. By 1982, Galerie Sycomore, Paris; 1984, sold by Galerie Sycomore to Jack A. Josephson, New York; 2002, partial sale by and partial gift of Jack A. Josephson to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 18, 2002)
NOTE: Published as being in a Paris private collection by Dietrich Wildung, Sesostris und Amenemhat: Aegypten im Mittleren Reich (Fribourg, 1984), fig. 75.
NOTE: Published as being in a Paris private collection by Dietrich Wildung, Sesostris und Amenemhat: Aegypten im Mittleren Reich (Fribourg, 1984), fig. 75.