1884.81.10.39

Collection type

Object

Description

Wooden bench, part of an Egyptian funerary boat model [see 1884.81.10 .1] Not thought to be original. [FB 09/01/2013]

Long description

Wooden bench, part of an Egyptian funerary boat model [see 1884.81.10 .1]. Piece of wood painted red, not thought to be original. [FB 11/01/2013]

Geographical reference

Egypt

Africa > Northern Africa > Egypt

Unknown

Person

Maker Unknown Maker

Field collector Unknown Collector

PRM source Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection

Date / Period

Date made: Circa 2050-1850 BC Archaeological period: Ancient Egyptian Middle Kingdom

Date collected

?By 1879

Acquisition information

Donated: 1884

Materials and processes

Material Wood Plant, Process Carved, Process Painted

Dimensions

Depth: max 12 mm, Width: max 24 mm, Length: max 42 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1884.81.10.39 PR no.: 1/ 9801

Research and responses

There is a discrepancy about the number of rowers in the boat between the entries given above. [AP Leverhulme project on founding collection 1995-1998]

With reference to the discrepancy described above, the accession book entry mentions the 8 pairs of rowers with two missing, it does not make any mention of the other five figures on board the boat. If these are added to the 14 rowers then the 19 figures recorded in the Delivery Catalogue is reached. Close inspection of the figures on the boat would suggest that not all of the rowers are original. The head of the fourth rower from the stern who is sitting on his own appears to be carved differently to the other to the other rowers and there is a ridge along the top of his kilt that the others do not have. In addition, the rower on the port side nearest the bow appears to be larger than the other figures, though this could be put down to the hand carving. It is possible that the dealers, Rollin & Feaurdent added one or more figures to make the model more complete before it was sold to the General. When the case is next opened it would be useful if a closer inspection could be carried out to establish whether the figures are original or not. [RW May 2003]

Previously displayed in C.45.A situated behind the totem pole in the court until 6 January 2013 when it was removed for redisplay in Case 7.A - Treatment of the Dead - Ancient Egypt, Peru and Chile. At this point the separate components of the boat [paddles, & various figures] were individually accessioned with part numbers of the main accession number 1884.81.10 [originally given to the boat]. With regards to some of the rowers possibly being from another artefact and not original to the set, this would be difficult to say for certain without having an expert look at the boat and rowers. Even if a number of the rowers are indeed not 'original' to the set, the boat and all its parts came from the founding collection in 1884 and so are a set in terms of how they came to be in the Museum and so it was considered best on closer inspection in 2013 to keep all the parts together and number them as components of the whole. Therefore the boat, paddle and rowers are now 1884.81.10 .1 - .29 [FB 11/01/2013]

The wood appears to be in a stable condition. The painted surfaces are powdery. Much is missing from the model, i.e. the main mast etc (evidence of an old repair). Of the 20 rowers, 6 are missing and 2 of the existing 14 may be from another artefact. Only 9 (of 20) oars remain. 1 steering paddle and 1 mast seem also to be from another artefact. (Unknown conservator, 1989) [LKG 29/01/2009] - This information has been moved from the conservation layout [KJ 11/01/2013]

Associated publications

Illustrated in colour on page 6 of Pitt Rivers Museum: An Introduction, by Julia Cousins (Oxford: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, 2004). Caption (same page) reads: 'Model of a funerary boat; from Ancient Egypt (Middle Kingdom). Part of the founding collection.' [JC 8 10 2004] Used in the Museum's 'Body Arts' trail, March 2005 [MdeA 13/5/2005] Illustrated in colour on page 25 of 'People Watching [Jenny Lunnon Surveys a Century of People Watching]', by Jenny Lunnon, in Oxford Today: The University Magazine, Vol. XVIII, no. 1 (Michaelmas 2005), pp. 24-36. [JC 4 11 2005] Illustrated in colour and discussed in detail as number 511 on page 607 of ‘Appendix A: Egyptian Watercraft Model Catalogue’ in ‘Egyptian Watercraft Models from the Predynastic to Third Intermediate Periods’, by Ann Marie Merriman (University College London: Ph.D. thesis, 2009), pp. 298–667 (see also pages 278, 279, 305, and 750). NB Unfortunately, the author gives the wrong number (1884.81.19) in the main entry on page 607 and on pages 278, 305, and 750. (Photocopies in RDF.) [JC 26 4 2010]

Search terms: Navigation, Death, Religion, Model, Boat Part, Grave Good