EARLIEST DYNASTIES
19, 20. Ist dynasty king, limestone
21. Ist dynasty king, ivory
22. Kha-sekhem (IInd dynasty)
In the pyramid age we will first observe the earlier private figures ([23 to 26]). Queen Mertitefs ([fig. 23]) was the wife of Seneferu, at the close of the IIIrd dynasty. In her type of face, and the treatment of it, we see an earlier race and earlier work than that of the pyramid times. The large, staring eyes, the mouth turning down, the natural hair cut short and brushed straight down over the forehead beneath the wig,—all these details disappear after this. When we compare this with the head of Nofert ([fig. 24]), who was of the next generation, the change of type and work is at once seen. In Nofert the eyes are admirably placed, the brow is perfectly natural, and the modelling of the features is irreproachable. Yet there is less absolute naturalism than in the older work of the Ist dynasty. The hair is evidently kept complete beneath the wig, and is laid out smoothly over the forehead.
OLD KINGDOM SCULPTURE
23. Mertitefs