Who is Serapis?
Serapis is a composite god who was worshipped during the Roman period in Egypt, when Egyptian, greek, and Roman cultures all blended in Egypt.
Serapis was a combination of the greek god Zeus, the Egyptian gods Amun and Osiris, and the sacred Egyptian Apis bull.
We very much appreciate your timely and accurate information on this subject. This experience has really enhanced our trip to the museum!
How did the reduction process work? Was it a mechanical process using some sort of 3D pantograph or did the workshop just copy a large work smaller?
It was a manual process with some mechanical assistance. To reduce works, Rodin and his assistants used a Collas Machine.
The Collas Machine basically allowed the person sculpting a reduced work to keep that work and the original sculpture at the exact same angle. Needles and a sharp cutting instrument attached to the machine would allow the sculptor to transfer the profile of one sculpture to the other.
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Both Dinka men and women wear forms of beaded corsets such as these. While men's corsets are structured with strong wires that hug the body tightly, women's corsets are more ample and hang from the neck like a large necklace. Some scholars suggest that these ornaments are "extensions" of formerly existing belts for men and necklaces for women. The highly prized imported materials used to make this corset, such as glass beads and wire make the garment a marker of wealth and status. The corset can also be an indicator of one's advancement through age grades, availability for marriage, and bride price.
The description says this piece is from a museum expedition. What is that?
That means that the museum sponsored either an archaeological excavation or trip to a country or specific site where the object was acquired.
Does that mean pillaged?
No, it does not. In 1933, the museum co-sponsored excavations in Coclé Panama with the Harvard Peabody museum. During these excavations, this object was uncovered.
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What is the subject of the work on the Wilbur plaque?
The Wilbour plaque shows reliefs of the Pharaoh Akhenaten and his primary wife Queen Nefertiti.
The piece was never intended to be viewed as a finished work. This was likely an example made by a master carver for other members in the workshop to copy from.
Why are the Wilbour Plaque and the Unidentified Queen similar?
As far at the head: the similarities are because they are from the same time period. This head may even also show Nefertiti like the figure to the right in the Wilbour Plaque. You'll also want to think about what parts of the face look similar on this sculpture when compared to the Plaque.
What kingdom and dynasty does the Female Figure come from?
The Female Figure long predates any "kingdom" or "dynasty" in the Egyptian sense, before there were pharaohs, or pyramids, before Egypt was even a unified country. Scholars refer to this, broadly, as the Predynastic Period.
This particular figure dates to a time that scholars call the Naqada II period which refers to a particular period in the material culture of southern Egypt around 3500 BCE.
Was there a reason why the facial expressions were always stern and emotionless?
The ancient Egyptians depicted faces in their natural and relaxed state. For one thing, this helped emphasize the eternal nature of the image. It is also important to remember that the idea of “smiling for the picture,” was not popularized until the introduction of the point and shoot camera in the mid 20th century.
Was limestone a rare and expensive material at the time and was limestone the best material to carve these images onto?
Quite the contrary, limestone is plentiful in Egypt! Carving into stone was a somewhat laborious process which adds some expense to the material. Limestone is much easier to carve into, however, than granite, for example.
Considering that the Wilbour Plaque was likely designed as a reference example, carving into the softer and more abundant stone makes a lot of sense.
Isn’t limestone easy to break apart? How has it lasted so long?
There are many widely varying qualities of limestone in the world. A lot of the limestone from Egypt is quite fine grained so it doesn't flake apart like some types can.
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I love the horses!
The decorations on these vases would have appealed to the royal Kangxi court - especially the horses! This dynasty was founded by Manchu horsemen who valued equestrian pursuits.
By the 18th century, China had discovered its own cobalt blue deposits. In earlier decades, they imported the mineral from modern day Iran. They referred to the color as "Mohammedan blue".
