<em>The Wilbour Plaque</em>, ca. 1352–1336 B.C.E. or slightly later. Limestone, pigment, 6 3/16 × 8 11/16 × 1 5/8 in. (15.7 × 22.1 × 4.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.48. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 16.48_SL1.jpg)

The Wilbour Plaque, ca. 1352–1336 B.C.E. or slightly later. Limestone, pigment, 6 3/16 × 8 11/16 × 1 5/8 in. (15.7 × 22.1 × 4.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.48. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 16.48_SL1.jpg)

DOWNLOAD

The Wilbour Plaque

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Amarna Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

One of the world’s best-known works of Amarna art, the Wilbour Plaque is named for the American Egyptologist Charles Edwin Wilbour (1833–96), who purchased it in 1881. The plaque was never part of a larger scene. Originally, it was suspended on a wall by a cord inserted through the hole at the top. Artists used it as a model for carving official images of an Amarna king and queen. The queen shown here is certainly Nefertiti; the king may be Akhenaten, his co-regent Smenkhkare, or young Tutankhaten (later Tutankhamun).

MEDIUM Limestone, pigment

DATES ca. 1352–1336 B.C.E. or slightly later

DYNASTY late Dynasty 18

PERIOD New Kingdom, Amarna Period

DIMENSIONS 6 3/16 × 8 11/16 × 1 5/8 in. (15.7 × 22.1 × 4.1 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 16.48

CREDIT LINE Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour

PROVENANCE Tell el-Amarna, Egypt; December 21, 1881, purchased in Amarna by Charles Edwin Wilbour; 1896, inherited from Charles Edwin Wilbour by Charlotte Beebe Wilbour; 1914, inherited from Charlotte Beebe Wilbour by Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour; 1916, gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour to the Brooklyn Museum.

Provenance FAQ

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Sunk relief heads of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. Probably made as a model for sculptors. Circular suspension hole at top. Traces of red paint on faces and crowns.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Amarna Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

CAPTION The Wilbour Plaque, ca. 1352–1336 B.C.E. or slightly later. Limestone, pigment, 6 3/16 × 8 11/16 × 1 5/8 in. (15.7 × 22.1 × 4.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.48. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 16.48_SL1.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 16.48_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

RIGHTS STATEMENT 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.

RECORD COMPLETENESS

Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.