Hairdressing Scene
1 of 3
About this Brooklyn Icon
The Brooklyn Museum is commemorating its 200th anniversary by spotlighting 200 standout objects in its encyclopedic collection.
These two limestone reliefs depict the ladies Inw and Henut, two hairdressers who are styling the locks of queen Neferu. Together these fragmented blocks form a dynamic and intimate image, showing the most powerful woman in Egypt in a humanizing personal moment.
Neferu was the principal wife of Montuhotep II, who unified Egypt at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. This hairdressing scene comes from her large and once highly decorated tomb at Deir el-Bahri, Thebes, where Montuhotep also built his mortuary temple. There are only a few surviving examples of these scenes of beautification, which depict elite and royal women of the early Middle Kingdom in moments of adornment. Here, it is possible that Neferu is being styled to perform for the goddess Hathor, who was associated with love, fertility, beauty, music, and the cult of Montuhotep.
Object Label
This fragment originally belonged to a scene showing royal hairdressers attending Queen Neferu (see accompanying reconstruction). The relief depicts one of the hairdressers of Queen Neferu. The inscription identifies her as “She who makes hair, Inu.” She holds a triple lock of hair that she will attach to Neferu’s coiffure.
Caption
Egyptian. Hairdressing Scene, ca. 2008–1957 B.C.E.. Limestone, pigment, 5 3/16 x 9 5/8 in. (13.2 x 24.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 51.231. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 51.231_SL1.jpg)
Tags
Culture
Title
Hairdressing Scene
Date
ca. 2008–1957 B.C.E.
Dynasty
late Dynasty 11
Period
Middle Kingdom
Geography
Place excavated: Thebes (Deir el-Bahri), Egypt
Medium
Limestone, pigment
Classification
Dimensions
5 3/16 x 9 5/8 in. (13.2 x 24.5 cm)
Inscriptions
The name is probably a variant writing of Ranke, Personnamen, 38,5.
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
51.231
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
Queen Neferu's hair is cool. Can you tell me about it?
Extensions would be made out of several different materials, including horse hair and even human hair, which is what the extensions we have are made of.Thanks, that was cool.I'm a student and would like to know more about this piece.
Of course! This and the nearby reliefs come from the Tomb of Queen Neferu of the 11th Dynasty. Neferu was the wife of Kine Mentuhotep II.This relief and the similar one nearby show Queen Neferu with her two hairdressers.The person in the piece you sent is one of the hairdresser's who is holding a bundle of a hair extension or wig. You can see an actual preserved bundle of hair extensions nearby.I see, thank you
Have information?
Have information about an artwork? Contact us at
