Bulletin du Musée National de Varsovie (42.2001)

current classifications of rock types found in Egypt, as siltstone or greywacke.
Sharing very similar morphology, both rock types belong to hard and dense
sedimentary rocks, mined in Wadi Hammamat ąuarries, on Eastern Desertd
Dimensions: height - 16.5 cm; width - 9 cm; depth -12.3 cm; break width
5 cm; break length 11.5 cm. Only the head of the statuę has been preserved,
broken of the torso diagonally half way through the neck. Right side of the
crown is damaged - a ram's horn and the bottom and middle part of the
ostrich feather are missing. Only the upper part of the braided beard has been
preserved where it is attached to the chin.

The element which allows for identifying the sculpture as a representation
of god Osiris is the crown atef. It is madę of the crown of Upper Egypt
adorned with ostrich feathers, one on each side, covered in a geometrie
pattern imitating vanes and of spiralling ram's horns placed underneath the
feathers. At the front of the crown we find an uraeus, its head upright, hood
spread and body coiled fiat, taił undulating. Below the heavy crown pulled
over the eyes, the face of Osiris has a regular oval shape and perfectly
harmonious features. The roundness of the cheeks and the subtle outline of
the bonę structure, emphasising the indentation below the lower eyelids was
achieved through the modelling of softly fusing surfaces. The outside corners
of the almond-shaped eyes are slightly lifted and the protuberance of the
upper eyelid is marked. The elongated eyes have been outlined by narrow
stripes imitating kohl cosmetic lines and extending to the temples. The same
device served to fashion the long soft curves of the eyebrows. The nose is
straight, well proportioned with carefully shaped nostrils. The mouth is
slightly protruding, both lips eąually fuli, shaped with great care, with a
carefully outlined contour and marked indentations around the corners. Its
expression is that of a faint smile. The braided beard covering only the lower
part of the round chin is held in place by a strap running on the side of the
face. The ears are of good proportions, with carefully worked lobes. The

(previous inventory number of the Osiris head was 147419, currently it also has a Wilanów
number: Wil. 5458). Archive research has not yet answered the ąuestion when Egyptian objects
were placed in the Wilanów collection. However, it is highly probable that they did not reach
the collection before year 1877. This conclusion can be drawn from the monumental volume
by Hipolit Skimborowicz and Wojciech Gerson describing the pałace and its collections.
(H. Skimborowicz, W Gerson, 'Wilanów dawny i teraźniejszy. Album widoków i pamiątek oraz
kopie obrazów Galerii Willanowskiej wykonane w drzewie w Drzeworytni Warszawskiej
z dodaniem opisów skreślonych przez..., Warsaw 1877). The only remark which might point
to the presence of the Egyptian objects in its collection is one of the chapter titles “Ancient
Greek, Roman and Egyptian Objects” (Starożytności greckie, rzymskie i egipskie) on p. 132.
Unfortunately, no objects were listed. Therefore, it can be assumed that the Osiris head
discussed in this paper arrived in Wilanów later, maybe even in the times when it was
transferred form the Potocki to the Branicki family.

3 B.G. Aston, Ancient Egyptian Stone Vessels, Heidelberg 1994, pp. 28-32; P.T. Nicholson,
I. Shaw, Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology, Cambridge 2000, pp. 57-58. Siltstone as
well as greywacke appear in similar colour rangę from greenish-grey to grey and dark-grey.
They are composed of fine grains of sand or clay. They differ in the size of grains which are not
detectable with the naked eye. Wadi Hammamat ąuarries were exploited from pre-dynastic
times until the Roman times.

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