664 – 343 B.C. Late Dynastic / Ptolemaic Egyptian. A beautiful wooden mummy mask depicting an individual with ochre-coloured skin, arching black eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes with circular pupils, regal nose and a small, closed mouth. Masks of this type were popular in Ancient Egypt and likely had both a decorative and symbolic role as the burial of the dead in Ancient Egypt was an elaborate and ritualised process. Their wide variety of faces makes it likely that these masks were stylised and idealised portraits of the deceased individual. Sarcophagus masks served an elaborate and important role in Egyptian funerary ritual as they served to protect the deceased’s face and head in their travels to the underworld, and in some cases helped to elevate the deceased to a god-like status through adoptions of godly attributes such as blue or gold skin. Good condition.Size: L:278mm / W:260mm ; 1.23kg; Provenance: From the private collection of an Essex gentleman; previously in an old British Collection, formed in the 1980s.