Upper part of a concubine. Ancient Egypt, New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, reign of Amenhotep III, 1390/1 to 1353/2 BC.

Upper part of a concubine. Ancient Egypt, New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, reign of Amenhotep III, 1390/1 to 1353/2 BC.
Hardened limestone.
Provenance: Private collection, James Gordon Hanes Jr., North Carolina (USA), acquired from Mathias Komor Gallery, New York, late 1950s-early 1960s. With Komor gallery label, n. 943. Private collection Eldridge C. Hanes, North Carolina (USA), acquired by inheritance from his father James G. Hanes Jr. Hanes Jr. in 1995.
An old photo is preserved in the Getty archive.
In good condition, with no restorations. There are dents on the back right side and a groove on the lower left side, caused by erosion in contact with the desert sand. The limestone has a solid shiny surface, which has hardened over time, becoming compacted.
Attached is a letter of provenance signed by Mr. Eldridge C. Hanes.
Parallels:
-Pierre Bergé & Associés. Archéologie. Paris. 15 December 2009. Lot 155.
-Pierre Bergé & Associés. Archéologie. Paris. 17 June 2010. Lot 147.
-Petrie Museum. University College London. London. N. UC28687.
Measurements: 22 x 18 x 13 cm.

Upper part of an Egyptian sculpture representing a woman with a back plate, carved in a rectangular shape. The woman has both palms of her hands outstretched, holding her wig on both sides. This accessory is of a very specific type, a wide and thick tripartite wig, with a lot of volume, somewhat short, typical of the productions of the New Empire. The shape of the eye sockets so perfectly slit, together with the headdress, fits in with the marked style of female representation during the reign of the pharaoh Amenhotep III, taking as a model the sculptures of Queen Tiy. In addition, the face, although spherical, is accentuated by the pronounced chin, another distinctive element of the statuary of this period.
In ancient Egypt, from the time of the pyramids, burials were richly adorned with grave goods. Among the multitude of elements, obviously all with a symbolism that was by no means casual, there were some fine sculptures, not always represented, of nude female silhouettes, carved in wood, later in the Middle Empire modelled in faience and in the New Empire in stone, with a marked physical attractiveness, with a halo of sensuality. Above all, this comes from their sparse decoration, nude with dots drawn on the body in the form of chokers and translucent dresses. This marked sexual character, so rarely seen in the Egyptian artistic imagination, soon attracted the attention of scholars and collectors. They are concubines or concubines of the dead. Their role is not very well defined: are they intended to ensure the sexual activity of the deceased in the Afterlife and the resulting procreation.

The sculpture present here, in terms of its physiognomic style as described above and its stone carving, dates to the New Kingdom. The clearest examples, although not common, as they are pieces that are not frequently seen, especially in terms of quality and considerable dimensions such as this one, although there are numerous examples in terracotta or faience of small dimensions, are the ones in which the beautiful lady is lying on a bed. The later support is possibly the representation of a bed, as can be seen in the best complete example on the market at Pierre Bergé & Associés, in the Archéologie catalogue of 15 December 2009, lot 155. Some other limestone monuments with only the reclining woman are preserved in Brussels (E. 2591), Florence (2142) or Dublin (E. 72:77).