Artworks

Two fragments from a circular box. The upper fragment decorated with alternating open and closed lotus fronds. The open lotus flowers of ivory stand proud of the smooth ebony surface, whilst the buds of ochre coloured paste are inset. A horizontal gessoed band with three incised rows and traces of gold leaf runs across the top. The matrix is of ebonised wood (‘hebeny’). The lower fragment has the same horizontal band across the top, beneath which strips of ebony and ivory form a rectangle around a partially remaining red stained ivory segment.
Restoration to two of the stems and two papyrus flowers.

The materials used in the creation of this box signified the vast reaches of the Egyptian empire, which, at the point of Amenhotep II’s succession to the throne, was the largest it would ever be thanks to the efforts of his father Thutmose III. The delicate ivory inlays are from hippo or elephant tusks, the latter not being indiginous to Egypt but imported from the south. The wood is from cedar trees originating in Lebanon, whilst the ebony veneers were likely brought by trade from the land of Punt. The gold leaf, traces of which remain on our fragment, is likely to have been mined from Nubia or Egypt’s Eastern Desert.

The rest of the box, found by Alexander Henry Rhind in the mid-19th century, is described as ‘one of the finest examples of decorative woodwork to survive from ancient Egypt’ by the National Museum of Scotland, where it is now on display. In the 1950’s Cyril Aldred created a detailed watercolour of the box fragments prior to its restoration, wherein we can see that the lid, base and back of the box are still missing. What is particularly imprtant about our fragments is that they introduce a new material to the box which is lacking in the reconstructed version; that of red faience. The two fragments in our possession clearly were attached to one another, and we are left with very little doubt that they belong to the masterpiece on display in the National Museum of Scotland.

Provenance

Private collection, Germany; acquired c.1965
National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh, UK; acquired from Charles Ede in 2016, museum number V.2016.43

Exhibitions

For the rest of the box see National Museum of Scotland, museum number A.1956.113
National Museum of Scotland, 'Ancient Egypt Rediscovered', 8th February 2019- present

Literature

An article was written on the box to which things belongs by W.M. Flinders Petrie, 'Notice of a Casket of Amenhotep II. (XVIII. Dynasty c. 1430 B.C.) in The Late Mr A. H. Rhind's Egyptian Collection...' in The Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 30, 1896, p.30−33