A priest of the royal ka-spirit of the Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Thutmosis I, Userhat flourished during the reigns of Ramesses I and Sety I at the beginning of the Nineteenth Dynasty. The lady shown in this photograph was apparently the second wife of the tomb owner, but for some reason her name appears never to have been inscribed into the space provided. Her title, however, is preserved: "Chantress of Amun," and she holds up a jangling sistrum, by whose soothing sounds the gods were pacified. She is bedecked for a banquet with a heavy, curled wig and an elaborate floral collar. The tomb of Userhat has suffered from spiteful vandals in modern times; the lady's face is more damaged around the eye, all of her eyebrow having fallen away.

• Silver gelatin on glass
• 23.5 x 29.5 cm
• $375.00