The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Trial Piece Worked on Both Sides

Trial Piece Worked on Both Sides

c. 1391–1353 BCE
(1540–1069 BCE), Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep III (1390–1352 BCE)
Overall: 34.4 x 24 x 7 cm (13 9/16 x 9 7/16 x 2 3/4 in.)
Location: 107 Egyptian

Did You Know?

Trial pieces were a necessity of this busy building period because new styles were continually introduced and rapid training of apprentices was needed.

Description

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. The rather routine, basic subjects of the other side show a far lower level of accomplishment. The sole details of any skill are the incomplete head of the god Bes at the bottom center and the human ear at the left edge. The simple neb-signs (baskets) are poorly executed, and the drawing of the hand is embarrassingly bad. At the lower right is a thickly banded human eye. Above that is the fair head of a princess wearing a short wig, wide headband, and thick sidelock. At the upper left are the beginnings (or the remains) of the bewigged head of a courtier, the face mostly obliterated.
  • Probably Thebes
    ?-1920
    Jusef Hasan, Luxor, through Howard Carter, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1920-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925. Mentioned and Reproduced: 57 archive.org
    Capart, Jean. Documents pour servir à l'étude de l'art égyptien, publiés. Paris: Les Éditions du Pégase, 1927. pp. 43-44, 79, pl. 61
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928. Reproduced: p. 69 archive.org
    Cooney, John D. "Amarna Art in the Cleveland Museum." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 55, no. 1 (1968): 2-17. pp. 10-12, figs. 8, 9 www.jstor.org
    Mysliwiec, Karol. "Le Portrait Royal dans le Bas Relief du Nouvel Empire," Travaux du Centre d'Archeologie Mediterraneene de l'Academie Polonaise des Sciences 18 (1976). pp. 71-72, fig. 152
    Berman, Lawrence Michael, and Bernadette Letellier. Pharaohs: Treasures of Egyptian Art from the Louvre. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Oxford University Press, 1996. p. 12
    Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač. Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999 Reproduced: p. 237-238; Mentioned: p. 237-239
  • Exhibition of the Month: Egypt. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 3-December 28, 1952).
  • {{cite web|title=Trial Piece Worked on Both Sides|url=false|author=|year=c. 1391–1353 BCE|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1920.1975