Gilded cartonnage mummy mask

Cartonnage mummy-mask: the face, collar and wig are extensively covered with gold leaf, and the wide-open eyes convey a sense of vitality and alertness. Between the lappets of the wig are stylized floral and geometric motifs, which represent rows of an elaborate collar. Above these are two strings of beads, one which supports an amulet in the shape of an 'ankh'. A fillet is bound around the top of the wig; it is inscribed with a funerary text and it surrounds an image of the sun god as a winged scarab beetle. Painted on the back of the mask are four mummiform deities, the 'ba'-spirit of the deceased as a human-headed bird, and the sun god as a falcon. Below these is a garbled hieroglyphic inscription in seven columns, which twice repeats the name of the god Osiris but it is otherwise virtually unintelligible.