ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Coffin Base of Baket

Place CreatedEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodNew Kingdom, Early Dynasty 18

Date1539-1479 BCE

MediumWood, pigment, gesso

Credit LineGift of Joseph A. Lewis II and Sofi Lewis

Dimensions80 x 24 x 25 in. (203.2 x 61 x 63.5 cm)

Object number2005.077.001A

Label TextDuring the early 18th Dynasty, a new style of coffin became popular among private people in Egypt, of which few survive today. Recalling coffins of the Middle Kingdom, examples of the new style are known as "white coffins" because their primary decoration consists of a white background with yellow bands spaced along the length and width of the coffin, imitating the bandages wrapping the mummy. This coffin, beautifully carved and painted, wears a heavy, striped wig and broad collar. A goddess spreads her wings protectively across the chest, while two other female deities, perhaps Isis and Nephthys, are depicted inside the lid and trough of the coffin. The distinctive white and yellow decoration is visible along the sides of the case, with large udjat eyes on each shoulder. The yellow bands contain religious texts, while the intervening white sections contain images of the four sons of Horus: Duamutef, Hapy, Imsety, and Qebehsenuef. An offering formula is inscribed down the front of the lid.
Exhibition HistoryFrom Pharaohs to Emperors: New Egyptian and Classical Antiquities at Emory, Michael C. Carlos Museum, January 14 - April 2, 2006
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, 2006 - February 25, 2013
Hall of Ancient Egypt, The Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, Texas, May 1, 2013 - Present
Published References"Fire Razes Howard Home, 'Maxwelton," Dayton Herold LXII, no. 24 (January 29, 1941), 1, 12-13.
Cleve Leshikar, "The Other Bidder was Out to Lunch," Austin Times Herald (?) (March 1, 1962).
Marj Wightman, "For This Antique, Unusual is Word," The Austin Statesman (March 1, 1962), 1.

ProvenanceSaid to have been found by a doctor from Philadelphia in Thebes, Egypt, 1873. Ex coll. Howell Howard (1898-1937), Dayton, Ohio. Thence by descent. Ex coll. Mr. Ganter, Reading, Pennsylvania, until 1962. Ex coll. Howard Hand, Austin, Texas, purchased from Abraham Birnbaum, New York, New York. Ex coll. Joseph and Sofi Lewis, United States, purchased from Pete Simons [World Artifacts: Ancient Art and Artifacts], Brooklyn, New York, May 10, 2005.

Status

Not on view

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