EgEyptian sandstone relief fragment of a goddess or queen

Ptolemaic Period, 304-30 BC
Width: 25 cm
Provenance: Private collection Switzerland, acquired 1960s and thence by descent
 
The fragment shows the left profile of a goddess or queen wearing a braided tripartite wig and vulture headdress. 
 
The vulture headdress had been used in the representation of goddesses and queens since the Old Kingdom. In the Ptolemaic period the vulture as the hieroglyph sign for mother is particularly associated with Isis, mother of Horus. At this time it is also frequently seen on depictions of Egyptian queens, including Cleopatra VII. Various reliefs from the Temple of Dendera show Cleopatra VII wearing the vulture headdress.