Volume II Part 33 (2/2)

[Illustration: FIG 322--Ivory Castanet Louvre]

[Illustration: FIG 323--Fragment of an Ivory Castanet Louvre]

-- 4 _Woodwork_

The Egyptians reat use of wood Under the Ancient Ehter constructions, to which, by the help of colour, great variety and cheerfulness was ies the cabinet-maker or joiner endeavoured to make his work artistic Various articles of furniture had their feet carved into the shape of lions' paws, or the hoofs of oxen[396] To judge from certain stone objects preserved in the mastabas, wood, which was comparatively easy to work, must have afforded the material for those skilfully-made and complex pieces of furniture whose fors from the Theban epoch[397]

[396] LEPSIUS, _Denk such objects is a table for libations, which was found in a tomb at Sakkarah It is supported by two lions, whose pendent tails are twisted round a vase MARIETTE, _Notice du Musee_, No 93

In these pictures the labours of the carpenter (Fig 324), and those of the cabinet- 325) are often represented The specimens of furniture in our modern museums arefroyptian joiners (Fig 326) The richness and elaboration of Egyptian furniture under the great Theban dynasties can only be estis We have already seen that their musical instruments were elaborately decorated; the harp of the fae 345 is entirely covered with incrustations, and its foot is ornae the arts of the cabinet-ht The interior of an ancient Egyptian house reets a visitor to the modern East Chairs with or without ar seats, foot-stools, brackets supporting vases of flowers, cabinets in which objects of value were locked up, filled the rooypt lived a life that was refined and elegant as well as civilized A great lord of the time of a Thothmes or a Rameses was not content, like a Turkish bey or pacha, with a divan, a few carpets, and athe day, is spread upon the floor for his accoht He had his bedstead, often inlaid with metal or ivory, and, like a modern European, he had other articles of furniture besides

[Illustration: FIG 324--Work a piece of wood Gournah

From Cha a bed Froyptian receptions--Egyptian _salons_--are represented The company is not crouched upon the earth, in the modern Oriental fashi+on Both men and women are seated upon chairs, some of which have cushi+oned seats and backs[398]

[398] See the illustration which EBERS calls _A Reception in Ancient Egypt_ (_aegypten_, vol ii p 276)

[Illustration: FIG 326--Coffer for sepulchral statuettes Louvre]

The elegance of these seats e, one fro 327), the other fro 328) They are both royal chairs, or thrones The ss presented by Chamhati to histhe supports of both these pieces of furniture, those crouching prisoners which becayptian ornament, are to be found In the one example, they are incorporated with the carved members which support the seat, in the other they are inserted between the legs, which are shaped respectively like the fore and hind quarters of a lion Each ared, and hawk-headed uraeus, some lotus-flowers, and a sphinx with a vanquished enemy beneath his paws, are carved upon either side of the chair The scheme of decoration as a whole is a happy combination of aesthetic beauty with allusions to the power and success of the king

[Illustration: FIG 327--Chair From the _Description_]

[Illustration: FIG 328--Chair From Prisse]

These elaborate pieces of furniture are only known to us by the paintings, but e turn to articles of a less ambitious description, such as toys and what are called _bimbeloterie_ in French, and, rather helplessly, ”fancy articles” in English, we have many fine specimens to turn to Of these the most conspicuous are those perfu motives

The more simple examples are orna 329) Others, however, have beautifully carved figures In Fig 330 we see a young wo a lotus bud

Several stalks croith open flowers support the bohich is shaped like that of a modern spoon, except that its narrow end is turned towards the handle The attitude and expression of this little figure are very good The right foot, which is thrust forward, only touches the ground by the toes The water in which she is about to step may hide sharp flints or unkindly roots, and, with cos are bare, because she has raised her gar into the marsh Her carefully plaited hair and her criood

Another spoon shows us a ht upon one of those boats which were used in the papyrus-brakes (Fig 331) Her instruuitar The musician herself seeers whose condition was pretty arment is a short petticoat knotted about her waist The bowl of this spoon is rectangular

[Illustration: FIG 329--Perfuoin]

Another co She is represented at the moment when her stroke is complete; her upper and lower limbs are stretched out to their full extent so as to offer the least possible resistance to the water (Fig 257) There is a perfuure contrasting strongly with the last described The box is shaped like a heavy sack, and is supported upon the right shoulder of a slave, who bends beneath its weight By the thick lips, flat nose, heavy ja forehead, and closely-shaven, sugar-loaf head, we nize this as yet another of those caricatures of prisoners which we have already encountered in such numbers[399] A perfume-box at Boulak should also beits head backwards Its wings open and give access to the hollow of the box

[399] This figure is reproduced in Rayet's _Monuments de l'Art Antique_ and described by M MASPERO (_Cuillers de Toilette en Bois_)

This desire to ornanificant objects of domestic use was universal The sticks which are shown in the bas-reliefs in the hands of alenerally provided with a more or less richly ornamented head The simplest terminate in a handle which appears to be modelled after the leaf of the lotus, as it rises above the level of the water, and, before opening to the full expansion, for 332) Other sticks of a si 333) Sometimes the handle is shaped like a lotus-flower sur 334) Wooden pins have been found with the head of a jackal or so 335)

[Illustration: FIGS 330, 331--Perfume Spoons Louvre Drawn by Saint-Elme Gautier]