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Trial Piece Worked on Both Sides
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This carved flake of limestone provides a fascinating glimpse of the ancient artist at work. One side, by far the better, features four studies of heads. At the upper left is an Asiatic. He has a low forehead, a prominent nose, and a long, pointed beard. To his right is a Nubian wearing the short, round headdress and large loop earring that the Egyptians usually identified with this ethnic group. The bottom row presents images from within Egypt. At the left is a stock image of a king. To his right is another Egyptian, whose clean-shaven head immediately identifies him as a priest.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineTrial Piece Worked on Both Sides, c. 1391–1353 BCE. Egypt, probably Thebes, New Kingdom (1540–1069 BCE), Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep III (1390–1352 BCE). Limestone; overall: 34.4 x 24 x 7 cm (13 9/16 x 9 7/16 x 2 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust, 1920.1975.a
