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© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Peter Harholdt.
Base of a Child's Coffin
© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Peter Harholdt.
© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Peter Harholdt.
© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Peter Harholdt.
ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Base of a Child's Coffin

Place CreatedEgypt, Africa
CultureEgyptian
PeriodLate Period, Dynasty 25 - Dynasty 26
Date722-525 BCE
MediumConiferous wood, pigment, gesso, human remains, linen
Credit LineCharlotte Lichirie Collection of Egyptian Art
Dimensions51 3/16 x 17 11/16 x 18 7/8 in. (130 x 45 x 48 cm)
Object number1999.001.006 A
Label TextThe sparse, simple ornamentation of the coffin highlights the beautifully grained wood. An elegant female figure painted inside the base represents one of the goddesses charged with protecting the deceased. The truncated proportions of the coffin, along with the rarity of coffins constructed specifically for children, suggest that a child was not the intended occupant. The bottom of the coffin was cut off and a new foot added in a rather makeshift manner, effectively "downsizing" the coffin for a child. The inscription, identifying the owner and requesting offerings for his sustenance in the afterlife, was clearly added after the coffin was reworked, since it extends onto the replacement foot. High mortality rates among infants and children in ancient Egypt meant that few families were financially able to provide a coffin for every child they buried. This fact, combined with the quality of the coffin, indicate that the deceased, a boy named Hori, belonged to a family of some status.
Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, July 18, 1999 - January 17, 2000
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, October 6, 2001 - 2005
Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science, Tallahassee, Florida, August 22 - November 27, 2005
Napoleon in Egypt, Museum of Arts and Sciences, Macon, Georgia, January 13 - March 26, 2006
Published ReferencesPeter Lacovara, "The New Galleries of Egyptian and Near Eastern Art at the Michael C. Carlos Museum," Minerva (September/October 2001): 9-16.
Peter Lacovara and Betsy Teasley Trope, The Realm of Osiris (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2001), 55.

Terms
ProvenanceEx coll. Niagara Falls Museum, Niagara Falls, Canada. Purchased by MCCM from William Jamieson (1954-2011) [Golden Chariot Productions], Toronto, Canada.
Status
Not on view
Collections
  • Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art