Statuette of a Man (c. 1391–1353 BCE): Art, History and Details

Statuette of a Man (c. 1391–1353 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This ebony statuette was made late in the reign of Amenhotep III, during the Egyptian New Kingdom. The figure strides forward with his left leg advanced, arms held at his sides. His right hand is held flat and positioned parallel to his thigh, while his left hand forms a loosely clenched fist. Originally, both of his eyes and eyebrows would have been inlaid with cobalt-blue glass to enliven the man’s features; only the outline of his left eye now remains.

Object facts

• Title: Statuette of a Man
• Date: c. 1391–1353 BCE
• Culture: Egypt, New Kingdom (1540–1069 BCE), Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep III (1390–1352 BCE)
• Type: Wood
• Technique: ebony inlaid with cobalt blue glass
• Dimensions: Overall: 23.3 x 6.9 x 4.6 cm (9 3/16 x 2 11/16 x 1 13/16 in.)
• Collection: Egypt - New Kingdom
• Department: Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
• Accession number: 1983.98

A detail from the museum

The arms of this figure were made separately and attached using small pins inserted into holes in the torso.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Kozloff, Arielle P. “Most Beautiful Youth Who Ever Happened.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 71, no. 1 (January 1984): 16–22.
• Turner, Evan H. “Year in Review for 1983.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 71, no. 2 (February 1984): 38–79.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.