HISTORY:
Our family and associated audio production businesses were very much into "the Arts" in all it's forms, from music to art to chinaware and even classic old analog (quality) technology!
In the world of artworks, our focus has always been Australian landscapes, both Australian and New Zealand but over the years we also collected some other "interesting" pieces of art and this piece is definitely a bit "outside of the box" for us at least!
On our musical side, we dealt with and had an interest in Arabic-Egyptian musical releases and also along with that came an in interest in artwork depicting scenes or characters from ancient times, this is one of those.
This artwork definitely fitted our interests, so when we saw this in a quirky antique shop during one of our trips in the mid 1980's, we bought it back to Australia, not really knowing much about it! Although the frame and backing all ooze 1970's ~ 80's period, the shop owner did tell us that he suspected the artwork inside was from an earlier period and that it had been reframed at some time ... the suggestion was that the artwork was created around the early 20th Century.
Actually we have two artworks, this is the first one. The other will follow shortly (it takes a while to take these apart and fully describe them!)
To be truthful, this artwork was only bought out from one of our spare rooms for particular occasions and also spent some time in our storage units when moving homes. It has now been decided to find a new, perhaps more loving home, who can fully appreciate it more.
We have no family lines to either Arabic or Egyptian culture, the closest we came to Egyptian culture was all those classes back in High School dealing with the ancient Egyptians (NZ education!) and on the music side of things, many albums of traditional Egyptian music (for the musical style not the lyrics) and funny enough, this song ... not so traditional!
Just as a side comment, many people don't realise that this song (although very popular) was actually banned in UK because it was considered possibly offensive to the Egyptians (due to references in the song to Egyptian conflicts) BBC was pretty sensitive to those sort of things a number of years ago.
Woops, I have gone seriously off subject ... let me tell you more about this artwork and how is it going to be offered
The following information is important! This is not just an offering of some artwork, end of story, but I am also going to described the artwork itself and how it was originally framed plus how I will be shipping it to it's new home
EGYPTIAN ARTWORK - Goddess Wadjet & Hatshepsut
Circa early 20th Century ~ 1970's
Hand painted onto a papyrus parchment base
Artwork has (until today) been behind glass, within an old metallic finished frame.
DIMENSIONS:
Frame (external): 340mm wide x 440mm height
Frame (inside window): 286mm wide x 386mm height
Frame (inside including the mount ledge): 301mm x 401mm height
Backing board measures 300mm x 400mm x 5.5mm thick (Yes, this is a tight fit and looks to have been cut to fit EXACTLY)
On one side of this backing board, which looks to be a composite timber similar to the material that used to be sold as "pegboard but with no holes" is a stipled plain Brown "vinyl like" veneer which has been "glued" although the glue is nothing permanent (in fact it could be sugars from the Papyrus) as I can quite easily separate the veneer from the backing board. This veneer is 0.5mm thick.
The sheet of clear glass which protects the artwork is cut exactly the same size as the backing board and is 2.75mm thick
The frame looks contemporary but a closer look reveals that it is of the period that we acquired the artwork because of ...
Although a Gold metallic front is used for the frame, behind that metallic finish is solid timber. The corner joints are all supported by 3x steel staples embedded into the timber - very strong. The front glass, artwork, backing board fit extremely tightly (high tolerances were used) into the rear of the frame and then secured by steel staples all around the inside-rear of the frame (3x top & bottom plus 4x each side) It was originally sealed with professional artist's "wet tape"
Total (fully assembled) frame hanging weight: 1.7Kg
THE ARTWORK:
Let's talk about the base material first up, this would appear to be genuine Papyrus (a reed plant). While we accepted this artwork as an interesting piece depicting ancient Egypt, and we did pay quite a sum for it all those years ago, it is only recently that I took a much closer look at the artwork itself.
I am not an expert in these matters but am very confident to claim the base is Papyrus. It has the typical cross hatch patterns and the material is extremely light, quite brittle, has some loose strands - it is fragile! From the discolouring in parts of the artwork, I can also see this is an organic material. The artwork was sitting on the backing board without the assistance of any glues. The two (backing board and artwork) separated quite easily but I can see a very light residue on the back of the artwork. I am certain this is the "sugars" which have leeched from the Papyrus over time, the only other possibility is that "perhaps" Sugar Cane was used instead of a true Papyrus ... in this suggestion, I cannot determine if it is one or the other.
The artwork papyrus base has not been trimmed to make it look nice in a frame. I am not surprised as this material is quite brittle and I think to cut those edges would be inviting trouble!
The artwork is hand applied, no machine work here!
The colours used are Black, Brown, Blue, Red and that wonderful Gold "mist" colouring - it's hard to describe as it is not a solid Gold such as a gilder may apply to a piece of chinaware but very fine metallic Gold painting. This Gold in particular reflects a lot of light so placing this artwork on a wall with natural light (but NOT direct sunlight) does enhance the artwork's appearance to the viewer.
THE SUBJECT:
We personally feel that this artwork was created for "art's sake" not so that it appeals to a tourist, particularly a Western tourist. There is no English (or other languages other than Egyptian hieroglyphics) painted onto this artwork but there is a very small "signature" (we assume) in the lower left hand side - this looks to be Arabic writing.
I believe, but cannot be 100% sure as I am not an expert in Egyptian ancient history, that the figure to the left is the Goddess Wadjet. She was considered the protector of Lower Egypt (prior to unification with Upper Egypt) and represented the serpent Goddess of Justice, Time, Heaven and Hell (that's a lot of responsibilities!) The disc above her head is called the Sun Disc (the uraeus) and it was the emblem on the crown of the rulers of Lower Egypt. As if she didn't have enough duties already, she was also the protector of kings and of women in childbirth! Interestingly, Wadjet (which can be spelt many different ways, as also occurs with the depiction of the Goddess) means "papyrus-colored one", as wadj is the ancient Egyptian word for the color green (in reference to the color of the papyrus plant)
The figure to the right appears (to me) to be Hatshepsut, regnant Queen and her special significance is that she was Egypt's second confirmed woman who ruled in her own right. In order to establish herself in the Egyptian patriarchy (not many women achieved such status), she took on traditionally male roles and was depicted as a male pharaoh, with physically masculine traits and traditionally male garb. She emphasized both the qualities of men and women to convey the idea that she was both a mother and father to the realm. Hatshepsut's reign was a period of great prosperity and general peace. Just like the Goddess on the left side, above her head is the uraeus, which signifies a ruler of Lower Egypt although this Sun disc is much smaller than that of the Goddess (size matters!). Additionally, although it is not clearly visible, I believe on her forehead is the outline of a snake (side view) which also indicates she is a person "above" an ordinary person but judging by the Sun disc size, she is not so "elevated" as the Goddess. I am truly at a loss as to the meanings of the elaborate headgear decoration on top of her head though - they could be birds, I am not sure. The same goes for all of the symbolism and some hieroglyphics in the artwork. I did see some reference sites online that may be able to assist in working out what all the symbolism really means but ...
I am sure this artwork is telling a story, but just what is that story would be for someone else to decypher! I do know that scholars spend their entire lives discovering the hidden secrets of the ancient Egyptians, I am not about to do that!
HOW THE NEW OWNER WILL RECEIVE THIS ARTWORK - PLEASE READ THIS AS IT IS VERY IMPORTANT!
Obviously to describe this artwork in detail we needed to disassemble the whole frame. We learned that the Papyrus is so very delicate and can be affected by acidic backing papers so (using protective gloves) I have carefully lifted the artwork off the backing board and placed within sealed non-reactive cellowrap (NOT plastic) to protect the artwork from the environment and ensure nothing is against the papyrus to which it may react.
Now that it is within the sealed cellowrap, the artwork is sitting back on top of the backing board and the glass sheet on top of that.
This is then all inserted back into the frame and re- secured in place but ONLY USING SOME OF THE STEEL STAPLES to hold the artwork in place and two strips of ordinary wide clear cellotape.
If the new owner wishes to retain the use of this frame, they just need to:
Bend the temporary securing staples to allow clearance for the removal of the backing board and artwork
Remove the temporary clear cellotape
CAREFULLY remove the artwork backing board along with the artwork.
Remove (CAREFULLY) the artwork from the sealed cellowrap
Position the artwork and place the backing board behind it.
Bend down (carefully) the 14x steel staples, seal the rear using true artwork wet tape (any art shop should have this on hand)
OR (if you have deep pockets) as a professional framer to do all of this for you!
COSMETIC CONDITION:
ARTWORK
CLEAN
Colours are vibrant and not faded
Papyrus is intact - certainly no tears or dramatic "holes" although extreme care with handling is a must, this is very delicate and brittle feeling material.
Slight Brown - Yellowish appearance which we believe is due to the sugars within the Papyrus.
FRAME:
Structurally sound BUT ....
The front facing metallic Gold finish has seen some knocks in its time, this must have happened on it's last trip to the storage units - the movers did also damage some other items at the time.
I am talking about small dents, not dramatic bends!
The glass front sheet is clean and unscratched
The rear steel staples securing the backing board in place are all firmly secure in the wooden frame i.e they bend (using pliers) without the wood coming apart.
There is NO sealing tape any longer - I had to remove this to have a good inspection of the artwork. You will need to reseal this frame, preferably using something like a good art sealing tape (best is water based).
The original hanging wire (actually 1970's nylon) remains in place, held by 3x steel staples each side.
Please keep in mind that I will ship this artwork FULL ASSEMBLED AGAIN but without the rear being properly sealed. This provides the opportunity for a new owner to either use this frame or move the artwork to another frame which they may prefer more.
Of the entire package will be extremely well protected from the rigours of the shipping services handling!
LAST NOTE ( I Promise) ...
How on earth do I price such an object of art? Way back 50 years ago I cannot remember how much we paid the store owner, possibly around £100 (we were in England) - that was a ton of mulla way back then ... in today's money it would be around £800+ but quite frankly we just want the artwork to be in the hands of someone who REALLY enjoys Egyptian art and where they are true collectors of such things. I see online that the prices for this type of artwork varies incredibly (sit down and do a Google - you will be shocked!)
We are not art dealers or traders, just ordinary folk who appreciate artworks of most kinds (don't like abstract much!) and we are looking to match this Egyptian artwork with someone who thinks in a similar fashion.
