Egyptian, Late Ptolemaic period, 2nd-1st century B.C.

Sandstone. Slender, female figure, on a rectangular plinth, in a striding pose, the arms resting at her sides, wearing a long, tight-fitting dress with a wide collar and a wig, the wig combining the elements of the three-part wig and of the Nemes headscarf, the snake falling to the top of the rectangular back pillar, the face with finely shaped lips, straight nose and long, widely spaced eyes. The surface of the statue with remains of plaster and traces of pigment.

H 59 cm.

Provenance:
- Formerly private collection of Jan van der Werff (1901-1988), Delft, acquired mid-20th century.
- Private collection of Marco van der Werff (with written confirmation).
- Sotheby's New York, 8 December 2011, Lot No. 36.
- Royal Athena Gallery, New York, before 7 February 2018.

For related statues from the Middle Ptolemaic and early Roman periods, see S. Albersmeier, Untersuchungen zu den Frauenstatuen des ptolemäischen Aegypten, Mainz am Rhein, 2002, figs. 68a/69a (Cleopatra of Egypt, Age of the Ptolemies, Brooklyn, 1988, Cat. No. 28), 71a-b, and 74a-d, statues in Cairo, Brussels, Paris, and Cairo.

A relief from a tomb at Sakkara (Cambridge No. 5/1909), dated to the 30th Dynasty, shows a goddess tending the tomb owner and wearing a wig that could be a prototype for the present wig.