Bust of Nefertiti with pillar plinth Plaster, polychrome painted. Early moulding in one piece together with the rectangular plinth, around 1922-circa 1930. Incised model no. "539" of the Staatliche Gipsformerei Berlin on the reverse. Specially made, high pillar base made of walnut. In contrast to the original, the present version of Nefertiti has two eyes and a plinth, while the other damage to the original (to the left ear and crown) has been reproduced. The bust of Nefertiti is one of the most famous art treasures of Ancient Egypt, not only because of its timeless beauty and fine facial features, but also because it is regarded as a masterpiece of sculpture from the Amarna period, made during the reign of King (Pharaoh) Akhenaten in the 18th Dynasty (New Kingdom) between the reigns of the Egyptians. The bust was discovered on 6 December 1912 during excavations led by Ludwig Borchardt in Tell el-Amarna in the workshop of the chief sculptor Thutmosis and brought to Germany in 1913. In 1920, the bust of Nefertiti was donated to the Prussian state by James Simon; in 1924, the bust was presented to the public for the first time in the museum built for the Egyptian collection of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin on Berlin's Museum Island, and the work of art has been a permanent sensation and a star ever since. But the first plaster casts had already been made before 1924: in 1913/14, the sculptor Tina Haim-Wentscher (1887 - 1974) created two painted replicas in artificial stone for James Simon and Kaiser Wilhelm II; in 1921, the sculptor's original model with two painted eyes followed for the Staatliche Gipsformerei in Berlin; by the end of 1922, 75 copies of the replica had already been made. Bust h. 60.5 cm; plinth h. 135 cm. Cf./Lit.: Martina Dlugaiczyk: "Serien-Star Nofretete (...)", in Miguel Helfrichu. Christina Haak, Christina (eds.): "Casting (...) A Symposium on the Plaster Moulding of the National Museums in Berlin", Heidelberg, athistoricum.net, 2020, pp. 162-173. Nefertiti Bust on a walnut column base. Painted plaster, cast circa 1922-1930. Incised model no. "539" of the Staatliche Gipsformerei Berlin.