r/OutoftheTombs

Sekhmet Statue
1390 BC - 1352 BC about (Dynasty 18: Reign of Amenhotep III)
M11810
On display

Specifications
Accession number
M11810

Collection type
Art

Culture
New Kingdom

Place made
Africa: Northern Africa: Egypt: Thebes

Date made
1390 BC - 1352 BC about (Dynasty 18: Reign of Amenhotep III)

Collector
Henry Salt

Place collected
Africa: Northern Africa: Egypt: Thebes

Date collected
1824 - 1827

Materials
Granodiorite

Measurements
Overall: 2060 mm x 480 mm x 1050 mm x 1463 kg

Note
Display dimensions on plinth = Height 225 cm x Width 67 cm x Depth 124 cm

Credit line
Gift of Joseph Mayer

Legal status
Permanent collection

Provenance
Henry Salt, Previous owner, Purchased, Owned from: 1827, Sold, Owned until: 1835

George Arthur, 9th Viscount Valentia Annesley, Previous owner, Purchased, Owned from: 1835, Sold, Owned until: 1852

Joseph Mayer, Donor, Purchased, Owned from: 1852, Donation, Owned until: 1867

Belzoni, Giovanni Battista, Previous owner, Excavated?, Acquired for Henry Salt, Owned until: 1827

Location
On display: World Museum, Level 3, Ancient Egypt Gallery

Publications
Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Statues, Reliefs and Paintings Volume II: Theban Temples. (2nd ed.), B Porter, R L B Moss, E W (assisted by) Burney, J (now edited by) Malek, 1994, Page: 264

The Museums of England with special reference to objects of art and antiquity in The Art-Journal volume 9, Llewellynn Jewitt, 1870, Page: 58, Plate: 58 ["Pa'ht"]

Gifts of The Nile: Ancient Egyptian Arts and Crafts in Liverpool Museum, Piotr Bienkowski, Angela Tooley, 1995, Page: 58, Plate: 84

'The Egyptian Collection', in Margaret Gibson and Susan Wright (eds), Joseph Mayer of Liverpool 1803-1886, A F Shore, 1988, Page: 57

Egyptian Treasures in Europe volume 4: National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside, Liverpool, Dirk van der Plas (ed), 2001, Page: M11810

Catalogue of the Mayer Collection Part 1. The Egyptian, Babylonian and Assyrian Antiquities. Second and Revised Edition, Charles Gatty, 1879, Page: 7 [13]

Egyptian Antiquities in the Liverpool Museum: a List of the Provenanced Objects, Piotr Bienkowski, Edmund Southworth, 1986, Page: 97

Arley Castle, Staffordshire : catalogue of the valuable contents of the castle ...the collection of Egyptian & Etruscan antiquities formed by the late Earl during many years of travel and research with Belzoni and Salt... The Property of the Late Earl Mountnorris and Viscount Valentia . . . Sold by Auction . . . at the Castle . . . 6th of December, 1852, Clark & Lye Farebrother, 1852

Information
Statue of the goddess Sekhmet represented with a lion’s head and seated on a throne. Sekhmet has a sun disc on her head as she was the daughter of the sun god, Ra. Her name means “the powerful one”. She was the goddess of destruction and healing, and protected the King from illness and enemies; she had a fiery temper too.

In about 1910 whilst cataloguing the collection Professor Percy Newberry described the condition of the statue as “slightly chipped in places”. A photograph of the Main Hall of the Museum from 1932 shows that the statue was complete.

During the Second World War the statue shattered when the Museum was destroyed by a firebomb in May 1941. A condition report from June 1995 reads, “Vertical fractures through the lower section of both figures. The figures are broken across their waists and across their ankles. The crown on the larger Sekhmet is broken, the crack running onto the top of the lioness ears. These breaks probably occurred when the figure crashed through the Museum floor”. The surviving fragments were put back together using polyester resin in the breaks. Evostick resin mixed W with putty was used to fill the fracture between the feet and body of each statue. Both arms below the shoulder are missing, including the left hand that clasped an ankh hieroglyph meaning ‘life’.

Presented to the Museum by Joseph Mayer in 1867. Mayer had purchased it from the collection formed by George Annesley, 9th Viscount Valentia, 2nd Earl of Mountnorris, (1770-1844) at the sale held at Arley Castle in December 1852. Lot 428 in the Sotheby's 1852 sale catalogue. Mayer gave £85 for it and the other Sekhmet statue (no. M11810) according to a priced catalogue. Viscount Valentia purchased the object from Henry Salt who acquired it between 1824-7. It is likely that this statue originated at the mortuary temple of the 18th Dynasty pharaoh Amenhotep III (1390-1352 BC) in Western Thebes.

World Museums Liverpool

https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/sekhmet-statue-0

Osiris

PLACE CREATED Egypt, Africa

CULTURE Egyptian

PERIOD Late Period - Ptolemaic Period
DATE 722-30 BCE

MEDIUM Bronze

CREDIT LINE Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation

DIMENSIONS 8 3/4 x 2 11/16 x 1 3/4 in., 1060 g (22.3 x 6.8 x 4.5 cm, 2 lb. 5 3/8 oz.)

OBJECT NUMBER 2018.010.738

TERMS

PROVENANCE
Said to be ex coll. Lord George Talbot. Purchased by Georges Ricard (1921-2012) from Roger Fernand Galliano, Paris, France, July 24, 1974. Ex coll. Musée de l'Égypte et le Monde Antique, Collection Sanousrit, Monaco, 1975-1982. Ex coll. Georges Ricard Foundation, Santa Barbara, California.

STATUS Not on view

COLLECTIONS Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art

The Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University

https://collections.carlos.emory.edu/objects/37715/osiris

Gilded Cartonnage Mask
PLACE CREATEDEgypt, Africa
CULTURE Egyptian

PERIOD Ptolemaic Period
DATE3rd Century BCE

MEDIUM Cartonnage, paint, gilding

CREDIT LINE Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation

DIMENSIONS17 15/16 x 11 7/8 x 9 3/16 in. (45.5x 30.2 x 23.3 cm)

OBJECT NUMBER2018.010.12

Label Text
This mask once covered the head and upper chest of the wrapped mummy. A polychrome wig frames a gilded face, with its lappets resting over an ornamented collar. Deities are painted on a dark yellow background, with details highlighted in pink, blue, and green. The wig lappets are divided into three registers with identical motifs of falcons, the mummy before the seated Osiris, and the four sons of Horus. To either side of the wig are rosettes, udjat eyes, and various geometric motifs. A pink headband encircles the wig, attached to a golden ring. At the top of the wig, a winged scarab stretches its wings over the band. At the back, the vulture goddess Nekhbet, wearing an Atef-crown, stretches out her wings over the top of the mask. On the back of the mask are the figures of Isis and Nephthys protecting the mummy.

Exhibition History
Life and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 4 - August 6, 2023

Published References
Jacques Mercier, Jacques Velliet, and Daniel Thullier [Hotel des Ventes], Lille, Rare Ensemble d'Objets de Fouilles et d'Archeologie (29 Mai 1972), lot 9.

Rune Nyord, "The Good Burial," in Life and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection, ed. Melinda K. Hartwig (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2023), Figure 3.1.

Melinda K. Hartwig, ed., Life and The Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2023), catalogue entry 72.

TERMS

PROVENANCE
Purchased by Georges Ricard (1921-2012) from Jacques Mercier, Jacques Velliet, and Daniel Thullier [Hotel des Ventes], Lille, France, May 29, 1972, lot 9. Ex coll. Musée de l'Égypte et le Monde Antique, Collection Sanousrit, Monaco, 1975-1982. Ex coll. Georges Ricard Foundation, Santa Barbara, California.

STATUS Not on view]

COLLECTIONS
Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art

Museum, 2023), catalogue entry 72.

TERMS

PROVENANCE
Purchased by Georges Ricard (1921-2012) from Jacques Mercier, Jacques Velliet, and Daniel Thullier [Hotel des Ventes], Lille, France, May 29, 1972, lot 9. Ex coll. Musée de l'Égypte et le Monde Antique, Collection Sanousrit, Monaco, 1975-1982. Ex coll. Georges Ricard Foundation, Santa Barbara, California.

STATUS Not on view

COLLECTIONS
Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art

Standing Mummiform Figure of Osiris
664–332 B.C.E.

Caption
Standing Mummiform Figure of Osiris, 664–332 B.C.E.. Bronze, 10 9/16 x 2 15/16 x 1 15/16 in. (26.8 x 7.5 x 5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund, 11.664. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Gallery
Not on view

Collection
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Catalogue description
Standing mummiform bronze figure of Osiris. Conventional posture. Hands grasping flail and crook; crown of Upper Egypt with feather on each side; large uraeus, no inscription. Heavy socket on base.

Condition:
Good, left side of base broken, nose slightly scarred. Apparently cast solid. Good routine workmanship.

Title
Standing Mummiform Figure of Osiris

Date
664–332 B.C.E.

Period
Late Period (probably)

Geography
Place made: Egypt

Medium
Bronze

Classification
Sculpture

Dimensions
10 9/16 x 2 15/16 x 1 15/16 in. (26.8 x 7.5 x 5 cm)

Credit Line
Museum Collection Fund

Accession Number
11.664 j

Have information?
Have information about an artwork? Contact us at bkmcollections@brooklynmuseum.org

The Brooklyn Museum

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/objects/5726

The goddess Cat
bronze, Late Period (7th-4th century), unknown provenance  (inv. no. E 0.9.40324)

 In the vast and complex repertoire of Egyptian deities, the cat, although identified with several goddesses, is particularly linked, from the 10th century BC onwards, to the goddess Bastet, whose main cult centre was in the Delta, at Bubastis. The goddess, initially represented as a lioness-goddess, in her cat form was a symbol of femininity and protected the domestic hearth. Statuettes and mummies of the small animal, often set in hollow bronzes, were donated to the goddess by her devotees to gain her favour. With the introduction of the "lost-wax" technique, which replaced the older hammered bronze sheet casting, starting from the New Kingdom (16th century BC) and particularly during the Late Period (7th-4th century BC), we witness the beginning of a serial production of statuettes of deities in their many aspects in Egypt. 

Models for sculptor
limestone, early Ptolemaic period (4th-3rd century BC)

unknown provenance  (inv. no. E 0.9.40015-0.9.40016)                      

Skilled Egyptian sculptors commonly used models on small, easily transportable slabs to practice or teach the art of relief carving. The use of these models dates back to the New Kingdom (16th-12th centuries BC), but became more widespread during the Late Ptolemaic period (7th-1st centuries BC).

The museum possesses two exquisite limestone model slabs of unknown provenance. One shows the profile of a ruler wearing a blue crown and the uraeus, the cobra symbol of royalty. The other model, carved on both sides, depicts the profile of a young ruler, wearing an elaborate wig, a uraeus on his forehead, and a broad, barely visible necklace.

On the back, however, there is a portrait of a female bust with a vulture-shaped headdress, a royal as well as divine attributes.

The three figures on the two slabs are drawn according to the canons of the most ancient period with the head in profile, the eye and the shoulder facing forward, but the stylistic rendering, the rounded face, the thick lips curled upwards, reveal a later execution, from the beginning of the Ptolemaic Period.

Castello Sforzesco

https://www.milanocastello.it/i-musei/galleria-antico-egitto/highlights/modelli-per-scultore

Fragment of the Book of the Dead of Pashed
papyrus, New Kingdom, XIX dynasty (13th-13th century BC), unknown origin (n. inv. E 0.9.40322)

The fragment of papyrus that belonged to the scribe Pashed reports in an elegant hieroglyphic the formulas for going out during the day, which Egyptologists called the Book of the Dead. Appeared at the beginning of the New Kingdom and in use until the Ptolemaic Era, the Book of the Dead consists of a series of magical-ritual formulas (192 in all) that helped the deceased to overcome the obstacles present in the journey full of dangers towards the new eternal life, in the afterlife. The formulas of the text could be written not only on the papyrus scrolls, which were placed inside the sarcophagus, but also partly on the sarcophagi, on the walls of the tomb themselves and on some of the objects of the funeral kit.

Castello Sforzesco

https://www.milanocastello.it/i-musei/galleria-antico-egitto/highlights/frammento-del-libro-dei-morti-di-pashed

Mummy Portrait of a Woman
A.D. 175–200
Unknown artist/maker
On view at Getty Villa, Gallery 210, Roman Egypt
View full record details

Romano-Egyptian funerary portrait of a woman painted in tempera (pigments suspended in animal glue) on a cedar of Lebanon panel. Although not presenting a psychological depth comparable to the best encaustic portraits, this tempera product is notable for its bright, colorful presentation characterized by a bold linearity quickly executed. Tempera is a fast-drying medium typically applied in a variety of widths and lengths of brushstrokes, and is especially evident in the construction of the eyebrows, eyelashes, and tightly wound black curls of this Antonine lady (AD 98-117).
The shape of the face is composed of a series of arcs beginning at the hairline and continuing down to the mouth and double chin accented by a dimple. The lines on the neck beneath are termed “Venus rings,” and were often used on Roman portraits to communicate the vibrant sexuality associated with that goddess. The subject wears a pink tunic of red madder to indicate her ownership of an elite purple-dyed burial garment trimmed in red ochre. The customary clavi (woven stripes) were apparently painted quickly and somewhat haphazardly, affecting the visual movement of her slightly skewed torso with its sloped shoulders. Her jewelry is distinctive: at the center of her brow is a round hair ornament to which two beads have been attached. From these dangles what is likely intended to represent a quite large pearl. She wears gold hoop earrings of some thickness and elaboration. Her necklaces are typical for the ladies of these portraits: the larger is of an unidentified woven metal with a round gold pendant. The inner necklace is made of alternating pearls and semi-precious stones: emeralds would have been appropriate for this date and are often seen in these portraits. The thick panel is smaller relative to others and has one prominent transverse crack, but is otherwise in good condition. The two plugged dowel holes at the lower edge are of unknown function.
By proof of the triangular stamp on its reverse, this portrait once belonged to the collector and dealer Theodor Graf (1840-1903), and this suggests that it was very likely found at Er-Rubayat (from whence he sourced his collection). The distinctive style of certain features, such as the mouth, eyebrows, eyes, and Venus rings on the neck are very similar to a Portrait of a Man in Vienna, Kunsthistoriches Mus3f eum Inv. x432.

Full Artwork Details
Title:
Mummy Portrait of a Woman
Artist/Maker:
Unknown
Date:
A.D. 175–200
Medium:
Tempera on wood
Dimensions:
Object: 28.2 × 14.5 cm (11 1/8 × 5 11/16 in.)
Place:
Egypt (Place Created)
Culture:
Romano-Egyptian
Object Number:
79.AP.129
Department:
Antiquities
Classification:
Painting
Object Type:
Panel

History of this Artwork

Provenance

before 1903
Theodor Graf, AustrianAustrian, 1840 - 1903(Vienna, Austria)
sold to Alfred Emerson.

before 1922 -
Alfred Emerson(Paris, France)

- 1932
Private Collection
[sold, Gemalde alter und neuer Meister : hellenistische Portrats aus dem Fayum, Miniaturen, Stiche, Skulpturen, Arbeiten in Silber und Gold..., Dorotheum Kunstabteilung, Vienna, November 24, 1932, lot 33.]

- before 1933
Flinker Collection(Vienna, Austria)

- 1942
Private Collection(New York, New York)
[sold, American Furniture, Kende Galleries, New York, September 26, 1942, lot 167, to Joseph Brummer.]

1942 - 1947
Joseph BrummerHungarian, 1883 - 1947
by inheritance to his heirs, 1947.

1947 - 1949
Estate of  Joseph BrummerHungarian, 1883 - 1947
[The notable art collection belonging to the estate of the late Joseph Brummer, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, May 11, 1949, lot 45.]

- 1964
Ernest BrummerHungarian, 1891 - 1964(New York, New York)
by inheritance to his wife, Ella Brummer, 1964.

1964 - 1979
Ella Baché Brummer
[sold, the Ernest Brummer Collection, Galerie Koller, Zurich, October 16-19, 1979, lot 4, to the J. Paul Getty Museum.]

Bibliography

Buberl, Paul. Die griechisch-ägyptischen Mumienbildnisse der Sammlung Th. Graf. Vienna: 1922, p. 55, no. 46.
Dorotheum, Vienna. Sale cat., November 24, 1932, lot 33.
Drerup, Heinrich. Die Datierung der Mumienportraets. Paderborn: 1933, pp. 47-48, 66, no. 34; pl. 20 b.
Kende Galleries, New York. Sale cat., September 26, 1942, lot 167.
Parke-Bernet, New York. Sale cat., Joseph Brummer Coll., Part II, May 11-14, 1949, p. 10, lot 45.
Hahl, Lothar. "Zur Erklaerung der niedergermanischen Matronendenkmaeler," Bonner Jahrbucher 160 (1960), pp. 9-49, p. 20, no. 55.
Parlasca, Klaus. Mumienportraets und verwandte Denkmaeler. Wiesbaden: 1966, p. 75, n. 96.
Galerie Koller, Zurich. Sale cat., The Ernest Brummer Collection, October 16-19, 1979, p. 21, no. 4.
Parlasca, Klaus. Ritratti di Mummie. Repertorio d'arte dell'Egitto greco-romano (A. Adriani, ed). 2 ser. Vol. III. (Roma : "L'Erma" di Bretschneider, 1980), p. 60, no. 644; pl. 152.3.
Thompson, David L. Mummy Portraits in the J. Paul Getty Museum (Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1982), pp. 58-59, no. 12, ill.

Parlasca, Klaus. "Ein spaetroemischer bemalter Sarg aus Aegypten im J. Paul Getty Museum," Alexandria and Alexandrianism, pp. 155-169. Malibu: 1996, p. 167; fig. 6.

Borg, Barbara. Mumienportra¨ts: Chronologie und kultureller Kontext (Mainz: Ph. von Zabern, 1996), p. 47, 59, 87, 105, 168, 171, 192; pl. 74,2.
Maram, Eve. "Dialoguing with My Demon." Psychological Perspectives 59, no. 1 (2016), pp. 24, ill.
Hope, Deborah. "Pearls Found in Ancient Greek and Roman Contexts in the Mediterranean." Mediterranean Archaeology 32/33 (2019/2020), p. 92 (cat. B-IMP38).
Barr, Judith. “From All Sides: The APPEAR Project and Mummy Portrait Provenance.” In Mummy Portraits of Roman Egypt: Emerging Research from the APPEAR Project. Marie Svoboda and Caroline R. Cartwright, eds. (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2020) https://www.getty.edu/publications/mummyportraits/part-one/11/, figs. 11.2; 11.5.
The J. Paul Getty Museum. "Faces of Roman Egypt" [exh.] Published via Google Arts & Culture (2021), https://artsandculture.google.com/story/YQVRtpUvIK_TtA (acc. April 7, 2021), ill.
Leonard, Benjamin. "At Face Value." Archaeology (January/February 2022), pp. 40-1, ill.
Marlowe, Elizabeth. "The long, winding, and bumpy road: seeing museum antiquities as colonial legacies." The Routledge Handbook of Classics, Colonialism, and Postcolonial Theory. Katherine Blouin and Ben Akrigg, eds. (London: Routledge, 2025), p. 457, ill.

Exhibition

Fayum Portraits: Painted Portraits from Roman Egypt
A list of the locations of this exhibition
The J. Paul Getty Museum (Malibu)March 24, 1981 - December 1, 1997

The Getty Museum Collection

https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/103TQE?tab=exhibitions