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Source Description
Elite Egyptian people once elaborately styled their hair or wore costly wigs to show their status. To further beautify their locks, women and men alike wove or sewed ornaments into their wigs or onto textiles draped over them. While most historical Egyptian wigs disintegrated over centuries, sculptures and friezes show how people wore these shining ornaments. Made from silver, curved sidelock pendants attached to braid ends or dangled on the forehead. Also of silver, tubes slid over braids or sectioned hair. Floral rosettes could have been sewn throughout, adding visual interest and reflecting the light with their faceted surfaces. While acquired together, these ornaments weren’t necessarily part of a set.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
94449
label
Sidelocks and Elements of Wig Decoration
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
94449
contentType
object
title
Sidelocks and Elements of Wig Decoration
description
Elite Egyptian people once elaborately styled their hair or wore costly wigs to show their status. To further beautify their locks, women and men alike wove or sewed ornaments into their wigs or onto textiles draped over them. While most historical Egyptian wigs disintegrated over centuries, sculptures and friezes show how people wore these shining ornaments. Made from silver, curved sidelock pendants attached to braid ends or dangled on the forehead. Also of silver, tubes slid over braids or sectioned hair. Floral rosettes could have been sewn throughout, adding visual interest and reflecting the light with their faceted surfaces. While acquired together, these ornaments weren’t necessarily part of a set.
date
1980–1801 BCE
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79474885
genreSpecific
Jewelry
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Average: 1 cm (3/8 in.)
cul
Egypt, Middle Kingdom (2040–1648 BCE), Dynasty 12
accession
1914.795
Source extras
tec
Electrum (?) over a calcite gesso; silver
tombstone
Sidelocks and Elements of Wig Decoration, 1980–1801 BCE. Egypt, Middle Kingdom (2040–1648 BCE), Dynasty 12. Electrum (?) over a calcite gesso; silver; average: 1 cm (3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust, 1914.795
collection
Egypt - Middle Kingdom
citations
citation
Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač.<em> Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999
page_number
Reproduced: p. 174; Mentioned: p. 174
citation
Ellington, Tameka N., Joseph L. Underwood, and Sarah Rogers-Lafferty. <em>Textures: The History and Art of Black Hair. </em>2020.
page_number
p. 83
creditline
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
updatedAt
2026-05-29 05:01:36.426000
sourceId
94449
dept
Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
coll
Egypt - Middle Kingdom
med
Electrum (?) over a calcite gesso; silver
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
71436507ba19c14b