The style and development of ancient Egyptian furniture - Decoration and Embellishment, part 2

Magazine Antiques, Sept, 1997 by Geoffrey Killen

Ivory was also used in the construction of small trinket boxes such as the one shown in Plate XI. The sides and top are formed of single panels of ivory that have been carved to simulate framed paneling. The side panels are set into grooves in the legs and the bottom sheet of ivory is slightly beveled on the edges, which fit into grooves cut into the bottom of the sides. The inscription along the central bar of the top indicates that the box once contained jewelry. The small, precisely incised plaque on the front of the box bears the cartouches of the king with his Horus name and royal titles. The lid is attached with a pair of gold hinges and the feet are shod in gold. Both mushroom-shaped handles are of cast gold and were originally tied together and sealed with a clay seal. The remains of the ties are still attached to the handles. Inside, the box is divided into four compartments by two vertical panels of ivory.

From the earliest period Egyptian furniture was decorated to disguise the quality of the wood from which it was made as well as to confer status on the owner. For an individual to commission furniture from a workshop required the permission of a nomarch (provincial governor) or a court official. Therefore, the very ownership of furniture brought prestige. Since from the outset furniture was readily adapted or designed to follow its owner into the nether world, it was crucial to embellish it with symbols and text that would help the deceased in the afterlife.

1 Part I of this article, 'The style and development of ancient Egyptian furniture," appeared in ANTIQUES, April 1997, pp. 574-581.

2 See W. B. Emery, Great Tombs of the First Dynasty, vol 2 (Egypt Exploration Society and Oxford University Press, London, 1954),p. 38, Fig. 16, Pl. XXXI[C].

3 Illustrated in ANTIQUES, April 1997, p. 578, Pl. VII.

4 Alfred Lucas thought the adhesive was carbonate of lime (whiting) mixed with size (see George Andrew Reisner and William Stevenson Smith), A History of the Giza Necropolis, vol. 2, The Tomb of Hetepheres the Mother of Cheops [Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1955], p. 26, n. 1.

5 Geoffrey P. Killen, Ancient Egyptian Furniture, vol. 2, Boxes, Chests and Footstools (Aris and Phillips, Warminster, England, 1994), pp. 57-59 and Pl. 51, and pp. 62-64 and Pl. 53.

6 Cited in ibid, pp. 57-59.

7 This box may have been designed for household use, perhaps to hold linens. However, on the death of Perpaut it was modified with a latch in the front gable that dropped and locked the box. For a full technical description see Killen, Ancient Egyptian Furniture, vol. 2, pp. 38-40, Pls. 29-34, Fig. 53.

8 The tomb was discovered by Theodore M. Davis (1837-1915), an American explorer and businessman. The furniture is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

GEOFFREY KILLEN, a furniture historian specializing in ancient furniture and woodworking techniques, is the head of the faculty of design and technology at the Stratton School and College in Biggleswade, England.