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Lot Essay
Inlays such as the present examples served as ornaments for decorative panels for shrines and funerary equipment as well as luxurious furniture for the living or even jewellery. This technique of using semi-precious stones to create brightly coloured inlays was likely developed to find a long-lasting solution to unreliable pigments used in paints. They were also more commonly moulded in coloured glass, imitating the effect of semi-precious stones such as these examples in jasper.
The finest examples of such inlays were produced during the Amarna Period, such as the quartzite head inlay in the Brooklyn Museum representing Akhenaten or Smenkhare, (inv. no. 33.685) which shows several similarities with this example, including the elongated eye recessed for now-missing inlays. The lack of a pronounced chin typical of the Amarna style, however, would place the present example within the post-Amarna production.
The finest examples of such inlays were produced during the Amarna Period, such as the quartzite head inlay in the Brooklyn Museum representing Akhenaten or Smenkhare, (inv. no. 33.685) which shows several similarities with this example, including the elongated eye recessed for now-missing inlays. The lack of a pronounced chin typical of the Amarna style, however, would place the present example within the post-Amarna production.