Lot Essay
On 5th November 1922 Howard Carter, leader of the Lord Carnarvon's archeological expedition discovered the location of the tomb of the Egyptian Pharoah Tutankhamun. Although some tomb robbing was evident it remains the best preserved and most complete tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
News of Carter's discoveries, which consisted not only of the mummified Pharoah himself but also a wealth of decorative objects and furniture that were kept with him for use in the afterlife, quickly spread resulting in a resurgence in popularity for all things Egyptian.
Harry Burton, the only photographer granted access to the tomb and whose archive is held by the Griffith Institute at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, made it possible to circulate images of what they found. Both this lot and lot 91, the famous golden throne of Tutankhamun, are copies of models the team discovered, which are illustrated and discussed in Hollis S. Baker, Furniture in the Ancient World, London, 1966, pg. 75-84.
News of Carter's discoveries, which consisted not only of the mummified Pharoah himself but also a wealth of decorative objects and furniture that were kept with him for use in the afterlife, quickly spread resulting in a resurgence in popularity for all things Egyptian.
Harry Burton, the only photographer granted access to the tomb and whose archive is held by the Griffith Institute at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, made it possible to circulate images of what they found. Both this lot and lot 91, the famous golden throne of Tutankhamun, are copies of models the team discovered, which are illustrated and discussed in Hollis S. Baker, Furniture in the Ancient World, London, 1966, pg. 75-84.