Asset number
858185001
Description
Wooden face of a coffin: the large tenon at the top slotted into the wig, and a single wooden dowel through this held the face in position; a bituminous adhesive was also applied. Although the face represents a generic image of the resurrected dead person, it is, nonetheless, a superb example of wood-carving. The facial contours, in particular the cheeks, nose and mouth, have been rendered with great sensitivity. The eyes, inlaid with ivory and obsidian, with bronze cosmetic lines, give a wonderfully vivid and alert impression. The face is split down one side.
© The Trustees of the British Museum
Using this image
Commercial use
To license images for charged-for journals and publications, and other commercial uses, please contact British Museum Images.
Contact BM images
Non-commercial use
You are permitted to use images from the British Museum website subject to our terms of use.
The image will be released to you under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license. You can read more about the British Museum and Creative Commons here.
Download this image
New photography
If you cannot see an image that you want on the British Museum website, you can order new photography from us.
Order new image