Kagemni Cartonnage Collar Trapping

Place CreatedEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodPtolemaic Period

Date305-30 BCE

MediumCartonnage, paint, gilding

Credit LineGift of the Georges Ricard Foundation

Dimensions6 x 10 5/16 in., 1/8 in., 115 g (15.3 x 26.2 cm, 0.3 cm, 4 1/16 oz.)

Object number2018.010.248

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 usekh, or broad collar, held amuletic properties in ancient Egypt. The collar comprises rows of floral element beads and gilded rosettes with an outer row of drop beads. The collar terminates in falcon heads wearing sun disks. Remains of gilding appear on the falcon heads and crowns. Suspended at the center of the collar is a golden pectoral with three schematic seated deities below a cavetto cornice. A square kiosk above shows the deceased worshiping a seated gilded Osiris. A winged gilded scarab tops the entire assemblage.
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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