A History of Art in Ancient Egypt, Vol. 2 (of 2)Perrot, Georges
History
A History of Art in Ancient Egypt, Vol. 2 (of 2)
Perrot, Georges
Art -- Egypt -- History; Egypt -- Antiquities
The colours are often well preserved, at least in parts, and, as one
combination is repeated several times, it is easy to restore the
missing parts by reference to those which are intact. The gilding,
however, has disappeared, and left hardly a trace behind. Gold was
used pretty generally in order to give warmth and brightness. The
obelisks, those of Hatasu for instance, were gilded upon all four
faces; the winged globe was sometimes gilded,[360] and so were the
bronze plates with which the temple doors were covered. The important
part played by the gilders, some of whose books of gold have come down
to our time,[361] is chiefly known to us by the inscriptions. Their
employment may also be divined here and there by the fashion in which
the stone has been prepared, sometimes by the peculiar colour effects
in certain parts of the bas-reliefs.
[360] _Description, Antiquités_, vol. ii. p. 533.
[361] There is one of these books in the Louvre (_Salle
Funéraire_, case Z); the gold leaf which it contains differs
from that now in use only in its greater thickness.
In some tombs gold is found in its pure state. During the excavations
at the Serapeum, Mariette opened the tomb of Ka-em-nas, a son of
Rameses II. When the mummy chamber was entered, the lower parts of the
walls and of the mummy cases shone with gold in the candle-light. The
floor was strewn with scraps of the same metal, and as many as four
books of gold leaf were found in the tomb. Mariette was then in want
of funds, and in order that the excavations might proceed, he obtained
authority from the French consul to sell this gold, to which of
course, no scientific interest was attached. The thick gold mask of
the prince and the fine jewelry which adorned his mummy are now in the
Louvre.
The mummy's toe-nails, bracelets, and lips, and the linen mask over
its face, were very often gilt. The feet are sometimes entirely gilt.
So too is the shroud. Those of princes and great personages are
sometimes covered with gold from head to foot.
[Illustration: FIGS. 289, 290.--Tables for offerings; from the
paintings in a royal tomb.]
The Egyptian artisans understood these delicate operations at a very
early date. Even in the tombs at Beni-Hassan we find the process of
gold-beating illustrated in full. We need hardly say that a decorative
industry which disposed of such complete resources, thoroughly
understood what we call _graining_, the imitation of the veins and
textures of wood, and also those of the different kinds of granite,
upon other substances. In more than one instance we find the commoner
kinds of stone thus made to look like rarer and more costly
materials.
CHAPTER V.
THE INDUSTRIAL ARTS.
§ 1. _Definition and Characteristics of Industrial Art._
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