AN EGYPTIAN LIMESTONE SARCOPHAGUS MASK 30TH DYNASTY － EARLY PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 380 – 250 BC |

from the lid of a large anthropoid sarcophagus, wearing a wide tripartite wig, the idealised face with full outlined lips, straight nose and almond-shaped eyes with long contoured eyebrows and cosmetic lines in relief

Jean-Loup Despras, Orient-Occident Gallery, Paris, since the 1970s.
Collection of David Stickelber (1928-2011), Kansas City, Missouri, acquired from the above in the late 1970s or early 1980s.
Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, Chicago, 8th November 2012, lot 207.

The mask is in good overall condition. As visible in the catalogue photo, there are typical bruises to the edges. The blue and black pigments are in an unusually good state of preservation.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A closely related complete sarcophagus lid, 183 cm high, inscribed for its owner Pedienese and dated to 350 BC, is in the British Museum, inv. no. EA34. For another similar sarcophagus mask, but slightly later in date, see Sue D'Auria, Peter Lacovara, and Catharine H. Roehrig, Mummies & Magic, The Funerary Arts of Ancient Egypt, Boston, 1988, p. 193, no. 139. The author writes that it "belongs to a class that evolved in Dynasty 30, and continued in use well into the Ptolemaic Period. Some dated examples were found by Petrie in Cemetery B at Abydos, belonging to Dynasty 30, and later sarcophagi of the same type are recorded from Qau and Akhmim. They usually bear inscriptions down the front in vertical columns, and additional decoration could be provided at the sides in the form of representations of the Four Sons of Horus or other funerary deities. Large wesekh-collars with falcon-headed terminals are also a feature of certain examples of this type of sarcophagus. Many uninscribed sarcophagi of this shape and material are known; they may be unfinished, or the painted decoration has not survived." The present mask was in the collection of David Stickelber. He was a major collector of furniture, silver, paintings, prints and sculpture in Kansas City. A supporter of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, he was appointed a Mary Atkins Trustee of the museum.