Art of the Egyptologist

Before photography became most prevalent, Egyptologists would heavily rely on artists to document the relics and monuments of the ancient world. Even Howard Carter himself started his career as an artist, documenting what he saw before him in temples and tombs.

Here we see an example of the beautiful artwork of Émile Prisse d’Avennes, a French archaeologist, who in this piece, has documented various painted wooden spoons, which were fashionable during the New Kingdom period.

Such spoons would not be for eating, but for cosmetic usage. Perhaps pigments for make up would be held within as an Egyptian noblewoman was made up for the day. Some spoons also had a swivel lid and box compartment, to perhaps contain cosmetics or trinkets.

These beautiful drawings were printed in the book Histoire de l’art égyptien, originally published in 1878. Imagine being someone alive in the late 1800s, picking up this book and seeing such colour images from the ancient world.