Head cover for a mummy
Lifelike painted plaster head covers like this one were placed over the coffins of mummies and proved very popular during the Roman period, about 2,500 years ago. You can rotate the object fully around and see that it is painted exceedingly realistically, with a traditional curly hairstyle and inlaid eyes of glass.
If you turn the object around, you can see the pillow design; his head would have been slightly raised and the area behind his head is decorated with red and black painted traces of a winged scarab beetle pushing a sun disk, representing regeneration.
Because of the fragility of the object, the underside could not be imaged and is shown in grey.
- Catalogue no: UC19622