CELEBRATING EGYPTOMANIA!
Well Christmas very definitely arrived early here at Immortal Egypt, with the huge honour of being appointed Egyptologist for The Egyptomania Museum. As a private collection of all things Egypt collected down several generations of the same family, we first met at one of the many talks we do, and over time have developed a real rapport through our shared interest which in our case stretches back almost 50 years.
In terms of Egyptomania itself, it’s perhaps best defined as “the wider world’s fascination with ancient Egypt, whose ongoing influence can be found across almost every aspect of visual culture, from architecture and clothing to everyday objects found around the home”. Yet what we find so amazing is that this is no modern phenomenon, since ancient Egypt has had its grip on Western culture ever since the days of early Greek travellers, their Roman counterparts taking away so many of Egypt's ancient monuments that there are now more obelisks in Rome than remain in Egypt!
So by the Renaissance when European scholars began translating Greek and Latin texts in which they found repeated references to Egypt, it became an increasingly popular destination on the Grand Tour, and no more so than for York-born George Sandys. Touring the Giza pyramids as early as 1611, Sandys’ landmark publication of 1615 (below) was the first account in the English language to correctly identify these monuments as royal tombs. It also influenced the way that Europe's elite began to commission increasingly monumental examples of Egyptian-inspired architecture as a means of marking their own status but as a way to compete with neighbouring families.
And this was certainly the case around Yorkshire, which has more pyramids than any other part of England, the oldest obelisk erected in Britain and the only full-sized replica of an Egyptian temple in the country. As the subject of our travelling exhibition ‘Resurrecting Ancient Egypt: a Monumental Yorkshire Journey’ which began in Barnsley before moving to Scarborough then Saltaire, we have now covered all parts of Yorkshire – south, north, west and east thanks to its current display at Beverely’s Treasure House Museum. And with our text combined with specially-commissioned images by Kyte Photography, it features the UK’s oldest obelisk set up in 1702 in Ripon by architect Nicholas Hawksmoor who was then commissioned by the owners of nearby Castle Howard to create an even larger obelisk for them, upping the height by 20 feet and framing it with a series of pyramid gateways.
And as Yorkshire’s quota of obelisks, pyramids and complementary sphinxes began to steadily rise throughout the C.18th, this was all well before the Western craze for ancient Egypt is usually claimed to have begun following Napoleon's 1798 expedition to Egypt. Yet the French expedition certainly triggered an explosion of Egyptomania, since Napoleon’s scholars discovered the Rosetta Stone of course, whose subsequent translation by French scholar Jean-François Champollion in 1822 unlocked the secrets of the hieroglyphic language and very much established Egyptology as a subject in its own right. So how privileged were we back in 2017 when our ‘Resurrecting Ancient Egypt’ exhibition was first unveiled in the beautiful surrounding of Barnsley’s Cannon Hall (below), attended by none other than one of Champollion’s actual descendants whose presence gave the event a truly magical dimension.
But of course the greatest impact made by ancient Egypt on the modern world was exactly a century later in 1922 when the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun triggered a global outbreak of ‘Tutmania’. With ancient Egypt brought into the lives of millions around the world via newsreels, newspapers and a subsequent tsunami of mass-produced objects relating to Egypt’s most famous pharaoh, there have since been further major peaks of interest, notably the release of the 1963 film Cleopatra starring the incomparable Elizabeth Taylor making a particular impact on the world of fashion and beauty. Less than a decade later the arrival of the Tutankhamun’s Treasures exhibition at the British Museum in 1972 marked the discovery’s half-century while its centenary celebrated in 2022 was another cause for celebration and commemoration, including our own ‘Tut’22: the Life of Tutankhamun’ exhibition (which you can still visit online, cluck on the image below or visit 3D VIRTUAL TOUR: Tut'22: The Life Of Tutankhamun):
For in every case the way in which ancient Egypt is received and interpreted by each new generation reveals much, not only about the world’s most fascinating ancient culture but about how we ourselves choose to interpret and indeed replicate it. And this extends way beyond the recreation of Egypt’s iconic architecture and into much smaller objects, the opening venue of our ‘Resurrecting Ancient Egypt’ exhibition at Barnsley’s Cannon Hall back in 2017 giving us a wonderful opportunity to also display some of Barnsley’s own Egyptomania collection, a particular favourite one of Royal Doulton’s commemorative ‘Tutankhamen's Treasures Luxor’ pitchers (below).
Produced between 1923 and 1929 at Royal Doulton’s Burslem premises on Nile Street (!), it was part of tableware series designed by Charles Noke, son of a Worcester antiques dealer very much influenced by his father’s collection of ‘antique vases’. Noke was also influenced by 1920s Tutmania, and while his images of pharaohs bear little resemblance to those on the walls of Tutankhamun’s burial chamber which was still inaccessible when production began in 1923, the one recurring motif, used prominently across Doulton’s Tutankhamun range, replicates exactly the pharaoh’s huge ornamental alabaster perfume vessel found in the tomb’s antechamber and one of the first objects to be photographed and published in the press as early as February 1923.
Certainly Doulton’s Tutankhamun range proved hugely popular and was exported around the world as millions of people sought to share in the excitement of the discovery. And with the Egyptomania Museum itself home to at least 5 pieces of this well-known set, we were beyond delighted when they offered us the opportunity to select anything we liked from the hundreds of objects they have around their home, to display in public for the very first time as part of our ‘Resurrecting Ancient Egypt’ exhibition in Beverley.
Now of course in my new role as their Egyptologist I spend much of my time studying the hundreds of objects they originally acquired during their time in Egypt and around Europe, with further pieces added from private sales, auctions and donations. And ranging from rare books, photographs and paper ephemera to Georgian ceramics, mid-century tableware, Egyptian-inspired perfumes and cosmetics and even Art Deco car mascots, all of these we’re now researching in order to share online as widely as possible.
But this is by no means a solo effort, and since I’m simply the Egyptologist and not a trained museum professional I also called in our good friend and colleague Ian Trumble, Curator of Archaeology, Egyptology and World Cultures at Bolton Museum. Having worked with Ian on numerous projects over the years, he is now working with the family on a practical level, advising on display cases, storage conditions and how best to transport their objects when needed. So it was a joy to work together at Beverely to bring a selection of these beautiful objects together, the end result recommended by none other than the BBC’s antique expert Philip Serrell.
So with plans for our next exhibition venue already taking shape for the middle of next year along with our film event in January, Egyptian tour in February and study day in March, it looks like 2025 will be busier than ever. Hope we’ll see you then, and all best wishes for a wonderful festive season!
For details of the Beverley exhibition: http://egyptomaniamuseum.co.uk/collection/ondisplay/, the Horus Society film event: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/horus-egyptology-film-day-the-mummy-tickets-1122131117379, the Egyptian Tour: https://www.theculturalexperience.com/tours/ancient-egypt/ and the Study Day: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/boltons-egypt-winter-study-day-queens-of-ancient-egypt-tickets-1107062807659
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