id:			149594
accession number:	1979.2
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1979.2
updated:		2019-06-05 09:17:28.832000

Head of King Userkaf, c. 2454-2447 BC. Egypt, Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, reign of Userkaf. Painted limestone; overall: 6.5 x 7.2 cm (2 9/16 x 2 13/16 in.); face: 4.8 x 4.8 cm (1 7/8 x 1 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1979.2

title:				Head of King Userkaf
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 2454-2447 BC
creation date earliest:		2454
creation date latest:		2447
current location:		107 Egyptian
creditline:			Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Egypt, Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, reign of Userkaf
technique:	painted limestone
department:	Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
collection:	Egypt - Old Kingdom
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 6.5 x 7.2 cm (2 9/16 x 2 13/16 in.); Face: 4.8 x 4.8 cm (1 7/8 x 1 7/8 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Portraiture: The Image of the Individual
	opening date:   1983-11-22T05:00:00
	<i>Portraiture: The Image of the Individual</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 22, 1983-January 22, 1984).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* CMA, 13 February-9 March 1980, The Year in Review for 1979, cat.: CMA Bulletin 67, no. 3 (March 1980), no. 1, illus. p. 63; CMA, 22 November 1983-22 January 1984, Portraiture: The Image of the Individual; CMA 1996 (not in catalogue)

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PROVENANCE

	Formerly in the collection of Prince Mohammed Ali, Cairo (vendor's statement); E. G. Massey, Geneva (1950-72); purchased from Marianne Maspero, Paris.
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact: 


digital description: 


wall description: 
Despite the monumental achievements of the Old Kingdom’s Pyramid Age, few images of its rulers survive. This head has been identified as King Userkaf, the first king of Dynasty 5. Userkaf built a modest pyramid at Saqqara and a temple to the sun god Ra at Abusir. According to later tradition, the first three kings of Dynasty 5 were the children of Ra himself and a mortal woman. From Userkaf’s reign on, the kings of Egypt were called "Sons of Ra." Here, Userkaf wears the two basic items of regalia that identify him as king: the tall, conical White Crown of Upper (southern) Egypt, and the royal false beard.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 2
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1991#page=18

	Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač.<em> Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999
	page number: 	Mentioned: p. 124-125; Reproduced: p. 124, color p. 44
	url:		

	Verner, Miroslav. <em>Abusir XXVIII: The Statues of Raneferef and the Royal Sculpture of the Fifth Dynasty. </em> Prague: Charles University, Faculty of Arts   2017.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 37-39
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1979.2/1979.2_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1979.2/1979.2_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1979.2/1979.2_full.tif