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Head of Queen Makare Hatshepsut: copy of a painted low relief in the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir al-Bahri

Howard Carter

1894

watercolor

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Impressionism Realism Late 19th Century

Dominant colour

Head of Queen Makare Hatshepsut: copy of a painted low relief in the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir al-Bahri is a 1894 watercolor by Howard Carter, a Impressionism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Howard Carter
When & what style?: 1894 · Impressionism
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

Howard Carter made a watercolor copy of an Egyptian queen’s face. She ruled over 3,500 years ago, yet her portrait survived almost intact. Carter worked as a draughtsman while copying temple walls. Carter was only in his twenties when he sketched this queen. He later found Tutankhamun’s tomb, but this image came first. It shows how early archaeologists documented fragile art. Next, look up Carter, Howard.

The story of this work

Overview

Howard Carter’s watercolor copy depicts the head of Pharaoh Hatshepsut from a low relief in the Mortuary Temple at Deir al-Bahri, part of a scene titled *Offering of Vases to Amon* recorded in Henri Edouard Naville’s 1906 publication. The work was created between 1893 and 1899 as part of Carter’s documentation of surviving inscriptions and imagery before later defacement. The original relief, from the Eighteenth Dynasty (c. 1503–1482 BCE), shows Hatshepsut in a rare unaltered representation. The watercolor once belonged to Lady Loch before being sold at Christie’s in 1975.

Read the full account in the museum source.