Kagemni Cartonnage Chest Trapping

Place CreatedEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodPtolemaic Period

Date305-30 BCE

MediumCartonnage, paint, gilding

Credit LineGift of the Georges Ricard Foundation

Dimensions6 x 9 15/16 in., 1/8 in. (15.3 x 25.2 cm, 0.3 cm)

Object number2018.010.247

Label TextCartonnage elements such as chest and leg trappings, foot cases, and masks adorned wrapped mummies during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. They are composed of layers of linen or papyrus, gesso, and glue that were molded, brightly painted, and often gilded. As with cartonnage masks, the essential components could vary based on shape, size, time, and place.

This cartonnage ensemble remains unfinished. Thin squares of gold foil were glued on faces, figures, and other important elements and were not trimmed back. On the central text band is the owner’s name, “Kagemni born of Ta’a,” painted in black, indicating the cartonnage was mass-produced and tailored for the purchaser. Holes in each element were used to sew them to the mummy wrappings.

The chest element depicts the goddess Nut with her wings outstretched. The goddess wears a golden solar disk tied with a red fillet atop her blue wig. In her hands, she holds ma’at feathers. Her gilded dress is molded to indicate beading. The four sons of Horus stand above her wings, contained in square shrines. A color block of blue and red stripes interspersed with golden rosettes frame Isis. A painted palace façade design is below her. All elements are painted on a yellow background.
Exhibition HistoryLife and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 4 - August 6, 2023
Published ReferencesMelinda K. Hartwig, ed., Life and The Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2023), catalogue entry 75.

ProvenanceSaid to be ex coll. Princess Maddevi Yukanthor-Norodom. Purchased by Georges Ricard (1921-2012) from Roger Fernand Galliano, Paris, France, April 5, 1974. Ex coll. Musée de l'Égypte et le Monde Antique, Collection Sanousrit, Monaco, 1975-1982. Ex coll. Georges Ricard Foundation, Santa Barbara, California.

Status

Not on view

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