- Museum number
- EA935
- Description
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Sandstone statue of Nefertiti: this headless and footless figure of Nefertiti depicts her standing, wearing a full-length diaphanous pleated gown coloured white, with one sleeve fashionably shorter than the other. The ends of her sash fall down the front of each leg as far as the shin. On the left side of the figure the plain edge of her garment runs from elbow to ankle. Traces of red and blue indicate the figure was wearing a bead collar; the flesh is coloured red. Although one forearm and both hands are lost, it is clear the queen once held something before her. It was not an altar, however, which would have been supported from beneath; whatever it was, she held it by the sides. The head, back of the neck and top of the back pillar were originally made from a separate piece of sandstone, but the head must have been replaced at least once, since the site of the break has been smoothed over and covered with plaster. The inscription on the back pillar gives the titles and name of Nefertiti and the later form of the Aten's name, which does not occur before year 9. The queen's physique, too - although she has prominent breasts, a well-rounded stomach, large buttocks, and over-developed thighs - exhibits the less exaggerated style of the later years of the reign. The figure, which has been reassembled from several fragments, is severely mutilated throughout. The face, fore-arms and feet are missing, and of the offering-table only the portion nearest the body remains. Much of the original paint is still visible.
- Findspot
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Excavated/Findspot: Amarna, el-, House I.50.12
From Griffith, JEA 17 (1924), 179:
"Pair of headless statues of Akhenaten and Nofretete, of Silsilah sandstone, found on 4th February [1924] in rubbish 50 cm. above floor in the north-east corner of small chamber at west end of L. 50, 12, very near to the shrine-platform of L. 50, 9 (the expedition's southern house), from which they had been thrown out."
The statue of Akhenaten is now Ashmolean 1924.162.
- Dimensions
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Height: 73.50 centimetres
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Weight: 16.50 kilograms
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Width: 22.50 centimetres
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Depth: 22 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Inscription subject
royal
- Curator's comments
- Bibliography:
F. Ll. Griffith, 'Journal of Egyptian Archaeology' 10 (1924), 303;
F. Ll. Griffith, 'Journal of Egyptian Archaeology' (1931), 179-81, pl. XXIV-XXV;
J. Vandier, 'Manuel d'Archeologie egyptienne' III (Paris, 1958), 340-1, 351-2;
M. Müller, 'Die Kunst Amenophis’ III. und Echnatons' (Basel, 1988), IV-123;
R. E Freed, Y. J. Markowitz and S. H. D'Auria (eds.), 'Pharaohs of the Sun: Akhenaten, Nefertiti, Tutankhamun' [exhibition catalogue] (Boston, New York/London, 1999), p. 231 [88] = R. Freed, 'Farao's van de Zon' (Leiden, 2000), p. 231 [88];
R. Holzl, 'Ägyptische Opfertafeln und Kultbecken : Eine Form- und Funktionsanalyse für das Alte, Mittlere und Neue Reich' (HAB 45), p.199;
N. Strudwick, Masterpieces of Ancient Egypt, London 2006, pp. 178-9.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
1999 14 Nov-2000 6 Feb, USA, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Pharaohs of the Sun : Akhenaten Nefertiti Tutakhamen
2008/9 Oct-Feb, Geneva, Musee d'art et d'histoire, Akhenaten.
2009 Feb-Jun, Turin, Palazzo Bricherasio, Akhenaten
2011-14 Oxford, Ashmolean Museum , LT Loan
- Condition
- incomplete - head, offering-table and feet lost
- Acquisition date
- 1925
- Department
- Egypt and Sudan
- BM/Big number
- EA935
- Registration number
- 1924,1011.5
