Volume II Part 17 (1/2)
[185] MASPERO (_Journal Asiatique_, March-April, 1880), _Sur quelques Peintures Funeraires_, p 137 See also BRUGSCH, _Die Egyptische Graeberwelt_, No 87
Finally, in this epoch or perhaps a little later, under the fifth and sixth dynasties, funerary statues were cast in bronze This notable fact was first proclaiperier We quote the observations which he addressed to the Academy of Inscriptions[186]
[186] _Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Inscriptions_, 1875, p
345
”The fact that bronze was e been ascertained The knob from the Sceptre of Papi, a Pharaoh of the sixth dynasty, which exists in the British Museuh to prove this fact M Chabas has called our attention to the fact that bronze is mentioned in texts which date froreat Pyrae des Batons de Main_, p 12 (Lyons, 8vo, 1875)
[Illustration: FIG 178--Wooden statue in the Louvre Three feet eight inches high Drawn by Saint-Elyptian bronzes representing the huht, is proved by two statuettes belonging to M Gustave Posno One of these is twenty-six inches high, the other nineteen They ; left foot forward, the left hand closed and raised to a level with the breast This hand, doubtless, held a spear The right hand which hangs straight down by the thigh formerly clasped, in all probability, the small sceptre which is represented in arer The hair is arranged into regular rows of small square knobs The eyes and eyebrohich were inlaid, have disappeared (Fig 179)'[188]
[188] Catalogue of the Posno Collection, No 468
[Illustration: FIG 179--Bronze statuette Two feet two inches high
Drawn by Saint-Elirt with the _schenti_, his left foot forward, his right hand raised to the level of his breast, the left hanging by his left thigh The inlaid eyes and eyebrows have been abstracted His hair, which is less abundant than that of his companion and allows the contour of his head to be easily seen, is arranged into very small knobs A vertical inscription on the left side of his chest gives the nae, in or after which appears the ethnic _Schasou_, which seein' The Schasous are yptian texts and seeypt on the North-East (Fig 180)”[189]
[189] _Ibid_, No 524
”In these two statuettes the s, and the articulation of the knees, are expressed with a care and truth which denote a very renize a phase of art earlier than the Second Eure recalls, by its features and the ement of the hair, the sculptures in stone of the fifth and sixth dynasties, the second cannot, perhaps, be referred to quite such an early period In the latter the vertical line of the back and right leg slopes slightly forward, betraying an atteure is, on the other hand, quite perpendicular
”Even in the photographs certain details are visible, such as the for of the anatomical contours, which denote a school anterior to that of the eighteenth dynasty
[Illustration: FIG 180--Bronze statuette One foot seven inches high Drawn by Saint-Elypt, then, was first in the field in bronze casting, as she was in stone and wood carving One at least of the Posno statuettes carries us so far back in the history of humanity that it is difficult to see where we can look for earlier works of art, especially of so advanced a style We have already ascertained that the first naures is far superior, both in style and , to the Asiatic canephorus of Afadj,[190] a hich was dedicated to a Goddess by a king, and ood example of the art of Western Asia”
[190] DE LONGPERIER, _Musee Napoleon III_ pl 1
We agree with M de Longperier in all but one point, and that one as to which he is careful not to coure is later than the sixth dynasty and earlier than the eighteenth, so that it would belong to the first Theban Eyptians of the Ancient Eure, they should not have made the second
Between the two statuettes there are but slight differences of handling, differences much the same as those to be found in the wooden and stone statues which we have already mentioned Neither the artists nor their sitters had quite the same capabilities
The technical skill shown in these bronzes is extraordinary The s, on the base of which are rough protuberances, so from the fact that the metal was allowed to solidify in the orifice by which it was poured into theof the kind No imperfection in the mechanical part of the work is allowed to interfere with its artistic effect The casting is light, hollow, and in one piece; the hly understood[191] They also understood how to add finish by chasing the metal after its relief from the mould The sure, ornaments which are so delicate in execution that they could not be reproduced in our engraving without giving theure, are instances of this
[191] M Pisani, who mounted the numerous bronzes in M Posno's collection, assures me that their insides are still filled with the core of sand around which they were cast The outward details of the casting are repeated inside, showing that the method used e call _fonte au carton_
That so few bronze statuettes have come down to us seems to show that the use of the metal by sculptors was quite exceptional They used wood far more than bronze, and stone more than wood Most of the sepulchral statues are cut in soft li 172, Vol II) Sometiroups, often consisting of father, mother, and children
Statues of men are the most numerous Differences between one and another arethan the points of resemblance Here we find a head bare, there enveloped in either a square or rounded wig The bodies are never coared in a variety of ways Fashi+ons, both for ypt as elsewhere In the statues ascribed to the last dynasties of the Ancient Empire the national type seems more fixed and accentuated than in earlier works These funerary statues are the portraits of vigorous and powerful men, with broad shoulders, well-developed pectoral s
Ra-nefer, priest of Ptah and Sokar, stands upright, his ar 181)[192] A dagger is passed through the belt of his drawers
[192] A sketch of this statue also appears on page 10, Vol I
Fig 6; but as, according to Mariette, it is one of the best statues in the Boulak Museuive it a second illustration, which, in spite of its s better than the first
The person represented in Fig 182 is distinguished from Ra-nefer by the fashi+on in which he wears his hair and by his costued in front so as to forular apron
This peculiar fall of the garment was obtained by the use of starch and an instrument similar to our flat-iron It is better seen in the statue of Ti, the great personage to whose gorgeous tomb we have so often referred[193] The Albanians obtain the curious folds of their kilts in the sa of a different kind froyptians shaved their heads from motives of cleanliness The priests were coion, which made purity of person even more imperative upon them than upon the laymen It was necessary, however, that the head should be thoroughly protected fro The shaved Moha with the turban