Basalt Head - Late 19th Century Work - In The Style Of The Heads Of Amenhotep III

Basalt head Late 19th century work Souvenir of the “Grand Tour”, in the style of the heads of Amenhotep III

This basalt sculpture represents a male head, made in a style directly inspired by the royal portraits of the New Kingdom, and more particularly of Amenhotep III (circa 1390–1353 BC). The object belongs to a late 19th-century production, intended for the European souvenir and collecting market, then booming with the Orientalist vogue and the study trips of the “Grand Tour”.

The head is carved from a block of dark basalt, a dense and polished material that reinforces the frontal aspect of the effigy. The face has a regular and symmetrical modeling: open forehead, slightly indicated brow ridges, slightly hollowed almond-shaped eyes, straight nose and closed mouth with discreetly raised corners.

A slightly raised frontal ornament suggests a simplified headdress, while the ears, treated in flat tints, complete the lateral contour. The back of the head is less worked, but retains a flat surface on which appear engraved hieroglyphs. These inscriptions, of summary execution, recall the 19th century taste for pseudo-Egyptian ornament, without constituting an authentic hieratic transcription.

The base of the neck presents an old break, repaired by a metal fixing system, today associated with a modern wooden base that allows the presentation of the whole. By its iconography, this work is part of the context of reproductions and historicist interpretations produced for European travelers.

It testifies both to the reception of pharaonic art in Western visual culture and to the circulation of objects inspired by Antiquity in private collections of the end of the 19th century.

Height: 24cm with the base
Depth: 15cm