Featured Egyptian sarcophagus cartonnage

Discussion in 'Antique Discussion' started by Octaviano, Nov 3, 2020.

  1. Octaviano

    Octaviano Member

    Hello Friends,
    Any know information about this?

    what does this figure mean?

    Thanks
    Octaviano. 20201104_002716.jpg
     
  2. 2manybooks

    2manybooks Well-Known Member

    The stripes are typical. I don't think there is enough detail preserved to tell if the figure represents a god, the deceased, or just a shabti - a figure to assist the dead.
     
    johnnycb09, Any Jewelry and kyratango like this.
  3. Octaviano

    Octaviano Member

    Many Thanks, its possible to know time era?
     
  4. 2manybooks

    2manybooks Well-Known Member

    taken from: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/burialcustoms/cartonnage.html

    "There are four principal periods of use of cartonnage, each with distinct ingredients and effects:
    1. In the early Middle Kingdom, mummy masks might be made from plastered linen; by the mid-Twelfth Dynasty workshops were producing longer masks covering the upper body, and there were eventually mummy-cases (in wood) enveloping the whole body.
    2. In the Third Intermediate Period the innermost coffin of elite burials was replaced by a mummy-case made in cartonnage (linen and stucco). These mummy-cases, often also simply called 'cartonnages' were brightly painted. They are no longer in use by the Late Period.
    3. In the Ptolemaic Period, from the reign of Ptolemy III, to the very beginning of the Roman Period, perhaps no later than the reign of Augustus, cartonnage elements and masks were produced from old papyrus scrolls; during this period, many masks and elements were also being produced with linen in place of papyrus
    4. In the Roman Period mummy masks and decorated pieces placed on the mummies were being produced from thicker fibrous material supporting a thicker layer of plaster."

    I am not clear on the distinction they are making between "plaster" and "stucco". But your fragment seems to be made on a woven fabric (presumably linen), rather than on reused papyrus, so it may be pre-Ptolemaic, (assuming it is a genuine artifact).
     
    johnnycb09 and Any Jewelry like this.
  5. Octaviano

    Octaviano Member

    Thank you for the important information, here a macro picture.

    20201104_202926.jpg
     
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