Egyptian Gallery face (tactile)
Synopsis
Luxor, Egypt; 664-343 BC; painted wood; 122 cm long by 50 cm wide and 40 cm high.Lady Tahathor was a wealthy lady who lived and died in Luxor about 2,500 years ago. Her mummy inside its mummy case was bought as a tourist souvenir by Mr G. Errington of Colchester who brought it back to England in the 1850s before donating it to Colchester Museum in 1871.
The mummy case is richly painted. The colours survive particularly well because unusually the coffin maker did not varnish the case which can lead to yellow discoloration.
The coffin is painted with symbols to protect the mummy within. The chest area is covered in repeating lines of feathers. Against these is painted a winged goddess of protection with her wings outstretched. Another winged goddess is painted again across the top of the feet. Rows of gods and goddesses are seen holding feathers to observe Anubis attending to the mummy of Lady Tahathor which is shown laid on a funeral bier.
Her pale pink face is carefully sculptured with facial detail painted on. Her large almond-shaped eyes are in typical Egyptian style - large black circular pupils on a white background surrounded by a thick black line that extends slightly at each corner. Surrounding her face is a long striped gold and blue headdress that is tucked behind her sculptured ears. A very short fringe runs across her forehead just below the headdress. The ears are highlighted with black lines including a black spot where an earring would go. Between the headdress on her chest is patterning in horizontal lines in green, red, gold and blue.
The tactile image is a close-up of the face of Lady Tahathor to nearly the end of the headress and is about half the size of the face on the mummy case. Her facial features are shown in outline with no texture for her skin. Her eyes and eyebrows are shown with solid texture along with her lips. A texture shows the blue stripes on her headdress with no texture for the gold stripes. The patterning on her chest is shown with texture and solid shapes.